Ballads, History, and Harpers

​To wrap up my project on Irish music and Irish history, I have written a brief essay outlining some of Ireland's overall musical history as well as examining the lyrics of five historically specific Irish songs. The paper-writing process took about ten hours, allowing me to complete the required twenty-hour project.

Olivia Phillips

Honors Colloquium

Fall 2017

Since the days of some of its earliest inhabitants, Ireland has been a musical isle. Music was of unique importance to the Celts, who arrived from Spain circa 350 B.C.E. (Blackwell). Though the Celts spread to modern-day England, Scotland, and Wales at around the same time, their musical traditions thrived most full on the western British Isle. This essay will explore the relationship between Ireland's history and its music by examining the reflection of the country's modern historical events from the Great Famine onward in the lyrics of the best-loved Irish songs.

Before examining the texts of these songs, it is important to further note the rich history of Irish music, as it has in many ways become a symbol of the country today. The Irish harp, for instance, is one of the most famed-components of historical Celtic music. It was a popular and prestigious form of music in Ireland from the middle ages to the dawn of the seventeenth century ("Story"). However, things quickly changed with the ascension of King James I to the British throne. Under his direction, the Ulster Plantation was begun in the northern part of Ireland, ousting Irish Catholic residents in favor of Protestant English and Scottish settlers through a misleading land division proposal (Blackwell). The reign of James I also introduced a new succession of laws targeting the "barbaric" Irish culture, meaning that harpists faced increased persecution. No longer honored as musicians to the Irish chieftains who had fled to mainland Europe in 1607 under the threat of action by King James, harpists had become troubadours of reduced status ("Story"). Such was the change for Irish harpists during this time that by the end of the eighteenth century, hardly any harpists or harps remained.

This loss of musical tradition had not gone unrecognized. In 1792, a national harper's convention was held in Belfast, calling all the harpists in Ireland to come forward and share unrecorded tunes with young musician Edward Bunting, who notated them on paper. Only ten mostly-elderly harpists were present. Bunting's work preserved the only remaining medieval Irish harp tunes; all others have been lost to time and cultural oppression (Ro os). Today's "Irish" harps are more akin to classical harps than to the Celtic harp of the middle ages. Only one medieval Irish harp remains: the Bryan Borou harp, which is kept at Trinity College in Dublin (Roos). Today, the Irish harp is proudly displayed in such nationally recognized formats as flags and the Irish Euro. It symbolizes the resilience and undying spirit of a culture that refuses to be extinguished.

During the past four centuries, Ireland has suffered losses of life and culture that have also likely resulted in loss of musical traditions. Discriminatory laws of the British government aimed at Irish culture are thought to have limited generational sharing of music prior to Ireland's independence in 1921 ("Story"). The Great Famine which spanned the years from 1845 to 1850 took over one million lives, amounting to more than ten percent of the people in Ireland (Blackwell).

Fortunately, one facet of Ireland's unique history also helped to preserve its musical tradition both at home and around the world: emigration. The Irish have been infamous immigrants, and they have taken their music with them. Celtic music now has an audience in such popular emigrant destinations as the United States of America, Canada, and Australia, to name a few. Irish pub culture, which can be found in cities worldwide, has also helped to perpetuate live Irish music traditions ("Story").

With such a full and emotional history as well as an ancient and beloved tradition of music making, it is little wonder that the Irish would incorporate so much of modern history into their songs.

The subject of the first song examined in this essay is the Great Famine. "The Praties, They Grow Small" is thought to have been written by an unknown poet and composer during the beginning of the famine in 1844-1845. It was famously recorded by American folk singer Carolyn Hester and has been adapted into such variations as "The Taters, They Grow Small in Kansas." The fearful tune describes in the simplest terms the early days of the deadly blight. "Oh, the Praties, they grow small over here/And we eat them skin and all," states one excerpt from the lyrics. During the later years of the famine, potatoes stopped growing all together, suggesting that the song would have been written before the blight reached its ultimate severity ("Praties").

For the Irish, the Great Famine was a fearful time. Around half of young people left the island altogether, amounting to about two million emigrants. Those who remained were sometimes killed by the sickness caused by eating the blighted potatoes; others caught diseases such as typhus and yellow fever, which spread furiously within the weakened population. Some diseases caused symptoms so strange that the causes were unknown. Those who fell ill were often quarantined, their families hoisting food and drink into upper-level windows on the ends of poles. (Blackwell, 147-8). With its simple tune and unadorned lyrics, listeners are able to derive more of the feelings that may have been felt by those who lived through the famine. "Oh, they'll grind us into dust/But the Lord in whom we trust/Will repay us crust for crust, over here..." Explains another verse of the song. This acknowledges the devotion of most Irish during the time of the famine. The strong Catholic roots of most famine victims helped them to maintain hope that things would improve.

The final verse of the short tune expresses a desire of the speaker for those affected by the famine to be geese, peacefully eating corn, "Till the hour of our release." Whether "release" refers to emigration, an end to the famine, or death is unknown ("Praties"). This verse is yet another testament to the terror brought on by the famine.

Because a massive proportion of the Irish emigrated during the time of the famine and throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, emigration became another popular theme in Irish song. "My Own Dear Galway Bay", written by Frank Fahy roughly one hundred years ago and later made popular by Delores Keane, is among the best examples. Fahy had grown up in the Galway Bay area but was living in London when he wrote the song ("My Own Dear"). The lyrics describe the life of an old man who has left Galway Bay for Illinois and created a good life with a beautiful family, yet who is haunted by the memory of his Irish home. The speaker concludes the first verse with "But time, nor tide, nor waters wide can wean my heart away/Forever true it flies to you, my own dear Galway Bay."

The speaker also expresses a regret for his decision to leave Ireland. "Had I youth’s blood and hopeful mood and heart of fire once more/ For all the gold the world might hold, I’d never quit your shore." When Irish immigrated to destinations around the world, their homeland was not forgotten, as is evidenced by the worldwide spread of Celtic music, Irish pubs, St. Patrick's Day celebrations, and more. "My Own Dear Galway Bay" captures the spirit of the Irish emigrant experience.

While many Irish were leaving the island, the political situation in Ireland was becoming increasingly more turbid. Unrest with British rule continued to grow. This made Irish service to the British Crown during the First World War all the more powerful. Though its writer, Eric Bogle, was actually of Scottish-Australian descent, the song "Green Fields of France" has become a popular tune for the Irish and has been oft adapted to the Celtic style. The song, which was reflectively written in 1975 as a comment on the needless loss suffered in Europe as a result of the Great War, has become one of the greatest anti-war songs of all time.

But "Green Fields of France" speaks particularly to the Irish heart. The lyrics follow a man who sits down by a fallen soldier's grave and speculates about the young man's life and death. The first line is a greeting to the soldier: "Well how do you do, young Willie McBride?" Bogle chose this particularly Irish name to pay homage to the Irish who died in the name of a government that so often did not serve them (McGreevy). The Easter Uprising of 1916, in which a group of Irish Republicans in Dublin rebelled against the oppressive British government, took place in the middle of the Great War. Today, Bogle's anthem is a reminder of dutiful Irish service to the English—and an implied nudge to the British as a call for gratitude.

The Uprising itself has also been memorialized in song, the most infamous being Sean and Frank O'Meara's "Grace." Written in 1985, the song retells one of the most famous stories from the Uprising: the marriage of Joseph Plunket and Grace Gifford. Plunket, a Catholic, had been sentenced to death for his part in the rebellion. The night before his execution, he and his Protestant girlfriend, Gifford, were married in the jail's chapel. In the morning, Plunket went before the firing squad, and too weak to stand for his execution, was shot sitting down ("Grace"). Even today, both the story of the star-crossed lovers and "Grace" are appreciated by Irish and English listeners with a range of political views. They serve as a reminder of one of the most defining events in Irish history.

Though after the Easter Uprising Ireland would go on to gain its independence in 1921, the Irish and British had continuing struggles. The Anglo-Irish War ended in independence for the Republic of Ireland, but it was decided that six of the nine counties comprising Ulster would remain under English rule. New unrest was created between the newly divided Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The decades following this partial independence saw an Irish civil war and longer lasting struggles between Republican Catholics and Unionist Protestants in Northern Ireland. Into the sixties and seventies, Catholics in the North continued to feel ostracized; they lived in poorer outer districts of cities, were often barred from political office, and had a disproportionally small amount of government representation. Tensions continued to rise, eventually leading to the birth of the Irish Civil Rights movement in the late sixties, inspired by the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the United States (Blackwell 206).

The best-known incident of the Protestant and British/Catholic conflict known as the Troubles was Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1973. Though police brutality in Northern Ireland was familiar to many of the region's Catholics, the problem was largely unknown to the rest of the world. On Bloody Sunday, fourteen peaceful Catholic protesters were killed by the fire of British officers in Derry. Bloody Sunday stood out among the episodes of the Troubles not because of its unusually violent and unprovoked circumstances but because of media coverage. News stations from around the world covered the scene, ensuring that the plight in Northern Ireland could finally reach an international audience (Blackwell 208-9).

The scars from Bloody Sunday are still evident in Derry today. Phil Coulter grew up in Derry and wrote "The Town I Loved So Well" later that year after the Bloody Sunday Massacre. The song contrasts fond childhood memories of growing up in Derry, a place of security and familiarity, with the newfound pain and fear found in the town. Returning home becomes horrific, as is described in the penultimate verse:

But when I returned how my eyes have burned/ To see how a town could be brought to

its knees/ By the armored cars and the bombed out bars and the gas that hangs on to

every tree/ Now the army's installed by that old gasyard wall and the damned barbed

wire gets higher and higher/ With their tanks and their guns, oh my God, what have they

done to the town I loved so well.

However, the damage done by the events of Bloody Sunday could not quell the spirit of Derry. "Now the music's gone but they carry on/ For their spirit's been bruised, never broken/ They will not forget but their hearts are set/ On tomorrow and peace once again." These lines capture the desire of many Northern Irish citizens to heal from the events of the Troubles and to recover peace. "The Town I Loved So Well" illustrates the sentiments of pain, pride, and longing for peace brought to Northern Ireland by the Troubles.

Ireland has a history and culture unlike any other, and music has been a prevalent part of that legacy. The nation's history and music have shaped and been shaped by each other. From ancient Celts to Irish harps to modern song lyrics, the history and music of Ireland have become inseparable, blending to create distinctive music, poetry, and spirit that are shared and celebrated worldwide.

Works Cited

Blackwell, A. H., & Hackney, R. (2004). The book of Irish history: all you need to know of Emerald Isle. New York: Fall River Press.

“Galway Bay (Song).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway_Bay_(song).

“Grace Lyrics and chords.” Irish folk songs, www.irish-folk-songs.com/grace-lyrics-and-chords.html.

McGreevy, Ronan. “Green Fields of France ‘written to tackle anti-Irish prejudice’.” The Irish Times, The Irish Times, 18 Feb.

2015, www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/green-fields-of-france-written-to-tackle-anti-irish-prejudice-1.2108217.

“My Own Dear Galway Bay lyrics and chords.” Irish Music Daily, www.irishmusicdaily.com /my-own-dear-galway-bay-lyrics-and-chords.

“Praties They Grow Small.” Irish Music Daily, www.irishmusicdaily.com/praties-they-grow-small.

Roos, Maarten and Ilse de Ziah, directors. Living the Tradition: An Enchanting Journey Into Old Irish Airs. Janson Media, 2017.

“Story of Irish Music.” Musical Pub Crawl, www.musicalpubcrawl.com/story-of-irish-music/.