The Wearing Of The Green

"The Wearing of the Green" is an Irish street ballad lamenting the repression of supporters of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It is to an old Irish air, and many versions of the lyric exist, the best-known being by Dion Boucicault. The song proclaims that "they are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green".
The revolutionary Society of United Irishmen adopted green as its colour, and supporters wore green-coloured garments, ribbons, or cockades. In some versions, the "green" being worn is shamrock rather than fabric. 
Many versions of the lyric exist. The general format is that the narrator is a rebel who has left Ireland for exile and meets a public figure (Napper Tandy, in most versions), who asks for news from Ireland, and is told that those wearing green are being persecuted.
Halliday Sparling's Irish Minstrelsy (1888) includes the anonymous "Green upon the Cape", dated to 1798. This longer poem describes the narrator's journey into exile before reaching the elements common to later versions. The narrator is a croppy from Belfast who arrives in Paris and is questioned by "Boney" (Napoleon Bonaparte).
In an 1802 version published in Dundalk entitled "Green on my Cape", it is Robert Emmet who meets the narrator, in Brest. Versions from the 1840s and 1850s feature Napoleon.
The best-known version is by Dion Boucicault, adapted for his 1864 play Arragh na Pogue, or the Wicklow Wedding, set in County Wicklow during the 1798 rebellion. In the second verse, Boucicault's version recounts an encounter between the singer and Napper Tandy, an Irish rebel leader exiled in France. Boucicault claimed to have based his version on a half-remembered Dublin street ballad. His addition of the third and last verses is in notable contrast to the middle verse in advocating emigration to America rather than staying in defiance. Boucicault himself fled to New York after leaving his wife for a young actress.
Henry Grattan Curran (1800–76), son of John Philpot Curran, wrote a version of his own, and claimed the original was written in County Tipperary. Wellington Guernsey's version was published in 1866.
In the 1937 Hopalong Cassidy film, North of the Rio Grande, actor Walter Long's Irish character, Bull O'Hara, leads the singing of another version of the song. The lyrics in this version are lighthearted and celebrate the beauty of Ireland. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

The Wearing Of The Green O Paddy dear, and did ye hear the news that's goin' round? The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground! No more Saint Patrick's Day we'll keep, his color can't be seen For there's a cruel law ag'in the Wearin' o' the Green." I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand And he said, "How's poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?" "She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen For they're hanging men and women there for the Wearin' o' the Green." "So if the color we must wear be England's cruel red Let it remind us of the blood that Irishmen have shed And pull the shamrock from your hat, and throw it on the sod But never fear, 'twill take root there, though underfoot 'tis trod. When laws can stop the blades of grass from growin' as they grow And when the leaves in summer-time their color dare not show Then I will change the color too I wear in my caubeen But till that day, please God, I'll stick to the Wearin' o' the Green.

Let Erin Remember

"Let Erin Remember" is a traditional Irish song. The song is often played on the bagpipes. 

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Let Erin remember the days of old, Ere her faithless sons betray'd her; When Malachi wore the collar of gold,* Which he won from her proud invader, When her kings, with standard of green unfurl'd, Led the Red-Branch Knights to danger!** Ere the emerald gem of the western world Was set in the crown of a stranger.

2. On Lough Neagh's bank as the fisherman strays, When the clear cold eve's declining, He sees the round towers of other days In the wave beneath him shining: Thus shall memory often, in dreams sublime, Catch a glimpse of the days that are over; Thus, sighing, look through the waves of time, For the long-faded glories they cover.***

---

* "This brought on an encounter between Malachi (the Monarch of Ireland in the tenth century) and the Danes, in which Malachi defeated two of their champions, whom he encountered successively, hand to hand, taking a collar of gold from the neck of one, and carrying off the sword of the other, as trophies of his victory." - Warner's History of Ireland, vol. i., book ix.

** Military orders of knights were very early established in Ireland: long before the birth of Christ we find an hereditary order of Chivalry in Ulster, called Curaidhe na Craiobhe ruadh, or the Knights of the Red Branch, from their chief seat in Emania, adjoining to the palace of the Ulster kings, called Teagh na Craoiobhe ruadh, or the Academy of the Red Branch; and contiguous to which was a large hospital, founded for the sick knights and sol diers, called Bronbhearg, or the House of the Sorrowful Soldier." - O'Halloran's Introduction, etc. part i., chap. 5.

*** It was an old tradition, in the time of Giraldus, that Lough Neagh had been originally a fountain, by whose sudden overflowing the country was inundated, and a whole region, like the Atlantis of Plato, overwhelmed. He says that the fishermen, in clear weather, used to point out to strangers the tall ecclestiastical towers under the water. Piscatores aquæ illius turres ecclesiasticas, quæ more patriæ arctæ sunt et ali& aelig;, necnon et rotundæ, sub transeuntibus, reique causas admirantibus, frequenter ostendunt. - Topogr. Hib., dist. 2, c. 9. 

The Minstrel Boy

"The Minstrel Boy" is an Irish song written by Thomas Moore (1779–1852) and published as part of his Irish Melodies. Moore himself came to be nicknamed "The Minstrel Boy", and indeed it is the title of Leonard Strong's 1937 biography of Moore.

The song was published in 1813 as part of Moore's Irish Melodies project, which spanned the years 1808 to 1834.

The record of the melody to which the song is set, The Moreen, begins in 1813 with Moore's publication of it, which is the sole source of the statement that it is a traditional Irish air. There is no prior record, and no source for it has been firmly traced by the several scholars who have looked into the sources for Moore's work. Charles Villiers Stanford published a "restored" collection of Irish songs in 1895, asserting a source for the tune; but scholars Veronica Ní Chinnéide in the 20th century and Una Hunt in the 21st century think Stanford to have not properly researched things, with corrections to several of his attributions having followed in 1898 in Alfred Moffatt's Minstrelsy of Ireland. Moore, according to Hunt's research, had greater access to manuscripts and to printed sources than previous researchers had believed.

Similarly according to Hunt's research, Aloys Fleischmann mistakenly claimed as sources several works that in fact post-date Moore's own publication. The tune appears in George Thomson's collection of Scottish and Irish airs in 1816, under Moore's title, leading to the suspicion, albeit no documentary evidence for which has been found, that Thomson sent the tune to Moore.

The Irish Melodies were overall immensely popular in Ireland and Great Britain when they were published, reaching a diverse audience, and "The Minstrel Boy" was one of the most famous songs from that collection. After his death, large numbers of special editions of what were later re-titled Moore's Melodies were sold at premium prices, with lavish illustrations, expensive green leather bindings, and embossed images of shamrocks and golden harps. These were also sold in North America, to which Moore's popularity also extended. 

Like with several other of the Irish Melodies, "The Minstrel Boy" is melancholy and nostalgic. ^] Its central icon is the image of a harp, which is a romantic symbol for Ireland, torn asunder; but, in contrast to the Irish political songs of some of Moore's contemporaries, with no promise of restoration implied for the future. A "warrior bard" is forced into silence by slavery.

Some of Moore's more subtle expressions of his politics in his songs were lost on early American audiences, who favoured the overt themes of freedom and liberty in "The Minstrel Boy", much in tune with the contemporary romantic notions of democracy that were also popular, and skipped over its references to slavery. Moore himself, who had travelled through the United States and Canada the previous decade, had a low opinion of the slavery still (then) employed in the former, expressing in 1806 his disappointment and his casting aside all "hope for the future energy and greatness of America".

Matthew Campbell, professor of Modern Literature and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Contemporary Irish Poetry (2003), contends that the images of harp, sword, and "Land of song" are "over-egging a double cultural and political symbolism" and that the "histrionic" song's "bathos" contrasts with the "delicacy" of "The Last Rose of Summer". In a contrasting view, George Bernard Shaw called the lyrics "visionary" in his preface to John Bull's Other Island. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

The original lyrics are as follows:

 I
The Minstrel-Boy to the war is gone,
    In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he has girded on,
    And his wild harp slung behind him.
"Land of song!" said the warrior-bard,
    "Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
    One faithful harp shall praise thee!"

 II
The Minstrel fell!—but the foeman's chain
    Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again,
    For he tore its chords asunder;
And said, "No chains shall sully thee,
    Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
    They shall never sound in slavery." 

 

The Harp That Once Thro' Tara's Halls

This ballad begins: 'The harp that once through Tara's hall / The sound of music shed, / Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls, / As if that soul were fled.' It was published in 1875, by the Poet's Box of 80 London Street, Glasgow. The address has been partially obscured - possibly the publisher went into liquidation or moved premises.

Although he is not credited here, this ballad was written by the Irish barrister and poet, Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Tara is the mysterious hilltop site in Co. Meath that was once home to the Irish high kings. The piece was written while Ireland was under English rule, and Moore's Tara symbolises the seat of Irish government and the rule of Ireland. The harp, Ireland's traditional instrument, symbolises Irish culture and spirit.

Early ballads were dramatic or humorous narrative songs derived from folk culture that predated printing. Originally perpetuated by word of mouth, many ballads survive because they were recorded on broadsides. Musical notation was rarely printed, as tunes were usually established favourites. The term 'ballad' eventually applied more broadly to any kind of topical or popular verse. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

The harp that once through Tara's halls
the soul of music shed
now hangs as mute on Tara's walls
as if the soul were fled
So sleeps the pride of former days so glory's thrill is over
and hearts that once beathigh for praise
now feels that pulse no more

No more to chiefs and ladies bright
the harp of Tara' swells
the chord alone that breaks at night
its tale of ruin tells
Thus freedon now so seldom wakes
the only throb she gives
is when some heart indignant breaks
to show that still she lives 

I Know Where I'm Goin'

 "I Know Where I'm Going" is a traditional Scottish (some sources say Irish) ballad about a wealthy love-struck young woman pining for her "bonnie" lover Johnny who some say has a bad reputation. It has been noted since the early nineteenth century. It is Roud number 5701.

In some versions the lover is said to be 'black'. This may refer to him being an outlaw or of bad reputation. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

I know where I'm going,
And I know who's going with me.
I know who I love,
And my dear knows who I'll marry.

I have stockings of silk,
And shoes of bright green leather,
Combs to buckle my hair,
And a ring for every finger.

O' feather beds are soft,
And painted rooms are bonnie,
But I would give them all,
For my handsome winsome Johnny.

Some say that he's poor,
But I say that he's bonnie,

Fairest of them all,

Is my handsome, winsome, Johnny.

The Lark In The Clear Air

 The Lark In The Clear Air is an Irish song and the lyrics by Sir Samuel Ferguson of Belfast circa 1850. The traditional tune ‘Caislean u, néill’ was collected by Lady Ferguson in the west of Ireland. 

To download the easy alphnotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Dear thoughts are in my mind
And my soul soars enchanted,
As I hear the sweet lark sing
In the clear air of the day.
For a tender beaming smile
To my hope has been granted,
And tomorrow she shall hear
All my fond heart would say.

I shall tell her all my love,
All my soul's adoration,
And I think she will hear
And will not say me nay.
It is this that gives my soul
All its joyous elation,
As I hear the sweet lark sing
In the clear air of the day.

Danny Boy

"Danny Boy" is a traditional song, with lyrics written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air" in 1913.

In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initially wrote the words to "Danny Boy" to a tune other than "Londonderry Air". An alternative story is that Margaret Weatherly sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913, Weatherly modified the lyrics of "Danny Boy" to fit its rhyme and meter. Another alternative version of the story has Jess singing the air to Weatherly in 1912 with different lyrics. Another alternative story is that Frederic did not set the poem to any tune, but that his sister-in-law Margaret Enright Weatherly, who together with her husband Edward were living near Ouray, Colorado, at the Neosho mine, set the poem in 1913 to the tune of the "Londonderry Air" which she had heard as a child in California played by her father and other Irish railroad workers.

Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular songs of the new century. Ernestine Schumann-Heink produced the first recording of "Danny Boy" in 1915.

Jane Ross of Limavady is credited with collecting the melody of "Londonderry Air" in the mid-19th century from a musician she encountered. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

The 1913 lyrics by Frederic E. Weatherly:

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow,—
Oh, Danny boy, Oh Danny boy, I love you so!

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Avé there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me! 

 

We Serve The Mighty God

 We Serve The Mighty God is written by Jennifer Randolph and Gerrit Gustafson.

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Clap your hands and sing hallelu-
We serve the mighty God
The light has come and everything is new
We serve the mighty God

For the Lord is a mighty King
And His love is a wonderful thing
Of His excellent greatness we sing
We serve the mighty God
We serve the mighty God

Sing a song of great jubilation
We serve the mighty God
Shout His praise unto every nation
We serve the mighty God

For the Lord is a mighty King
And His love is a wonderful thing
Of His excellent greatness we sing
We serve the mighty God
We serve the mighty God

Glory, glory, glory, hallelu-
We serve the mighty God
The mighty God is living in you
We serve the mighty God

For the Lord is a mighty King
And His love is a wonderful thing
Of His excellent greatness we sing
We serve the mighty God
We serve the mighty God

We serve the mighty God
We serve the mighty God