FOR IRELAND I WON'T SAY HER NAME (Ar Eirinn ni Neosfainn Ce Hi). AKA - "For Ireland I'd Not Tell Her Name." AKA and see "'Ar Eirinn ni 'Neosfainn Ce Hi." "I Am a Disconsolate Rake," "Nancy Pride of the West," "The River Lee," "Storeen Machree." Irish, Slow Air (6/8 or 3/4 time). Ireland; Munster, West Kerry. D Major (Boys of the Lough): G Major (Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham, Ó Canainn, O'Neill). Standard. One part (Boys/Lough, Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham, Ó Canainn): AB (O'Neill). The song attached to this slow air, according the Boys of the Lough, relates the tale of a beautiful maiden who appeared for a short time to a Gaelic poet, resisted his advances and then disappeared forever, leaving him heartbroken. Another version has it that the protagonist falls secretly in love with a maid, although he is too poor to support her and too shy
to propose. He goes abroad to seek his fortune, and once made and emboldened he returns home to claim his beloved, only to discover she has married his brother. Brokenheared, he composes this song, though for obvious reasons he refuses to reveal the name of his beloved. The Boys of the Lough note some similarity between this tune and the English/Scottish border tune known as 'Tweedside.' "...It is often called 'Binn lisin aerach a Bhrogha' (The melodious little lis of Bruff, Co. Limerick) from a song about that place" (Joyce). The melody was published by both Petrie and Joyce (pg. 221, appears as "Nancy the Pride of the West") as the vehicle for songs, and the music appears in Poets and Poetry of Munster (1849). Joyce also later included it in his Irish Music and Song." Words to the song begin:
***
Aréir is mé téarnamh um' neoin,
Ar an dtaobh thall den teóra 'na mbím,
Do théarnaig an spéir-bhean im' chómhair
D'fhág taomanach breóite lag sinn.
Do ghéilleas dá méin is dá cló,
Dá béal tanaí beó mhilis binn,
Do léimeas fé dhéin dul 'na cómhair,
Is ar Éirinn ní n-eósainn cé h-í.
***
Last night as I strolled abroad
On the far side of my farm
I was approached by a comely maiden
Who left me distraught and weak.
I was captivated by her demeanour and shapeliness
By her sensitive and delicate mouth,
I hastened to approach her
But for Ireland I'd not tell her name. (Mary O'Hara, A Song for Ireland).
***
Boys of the Lough, 1977; pg. 24. Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham (An Pota Stóir: Ceol Seite Corca Duibne/The Set Dance Music of West Kerry), No. 89, pg. 51. Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland), 1995; No. 57, pg. 51 (appears as "Ar Eirinn"). O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 87, pg. 15. North Star NS0031, "Dance Across the Sea: Dances and Airs from the Celtic Highlands" (1990). Transatlantic TRA 296, Boys of the Lough, "Recorded Live."
T:For Ireland I Won't Say Her Name
L:1/8
M:3/4
K:G Major
GA | B2 D2 D2 | E2 c2 BA | B4 GA | B2 D2 D2 | E2 G2 B2 | B4 GA |
B2 D2 D2 | E2 c2 BA | B4 A2 | G2 E2 D2 | E2 G3 A | G4 || Bc |
d2 B2 A2 | G2 B2 d2 | e4 ge | d2 B2 A2 | G2 A2 B2 | A4 GA |
B2 D2 D2 | E2 c2 BA | B4 A2 | G2 E2 D2 | E2 G3 A | G4 |]
STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN. AKA and see "When a Man's in Love," "I Love Nell, "My Love Nell." Irish; March (4/4 time), Air or Waltz (3/4 time). A Aeolian (Am). Standard. AB (Barnes, Matthiesen): AAB (Brody, Johnson, Phillips). A star, in Irish vernacular, is a beautiful woman. The air originally was set to the song "My Love Nell," but appears under the "Star" title in Hughes' Irish Country Songs, with words written by Cathal Mac Garvey {1866-1927}(Loesberg, 1980). This tune is identified by Cazden (et al, 1982) as belonging to the protean and huge 'Lazarus' family of tunes, which includes, among numerous other in the Gaelic/British traditin, the Scottish "Gilderoy," Cazden's own Catskill Mountain collected "Banks of the Sweet Dundee," and Chappell's English "We Be Poor, Frozen Out Gardeners" as well as literaly hundreds of other airs. Rock singer Van Morrison did a nice march-time version of the song with the Chieftains on a 1994 recording. The County Down takes its name from Downpatrick, where St. Patrick is said to have been buried (Down is a variation of the Celtic word Dun, meaning a fortified place). Source for notated version: Fennigs All Stars (New York) [Brody]. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 265. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician's Occasional: Waltz, Air and Misc.), No. 1, 1991; pg. 11. Matthiesen (The Waltz Book), 1992; pg. 47. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook: British Isles), 1989; pg. 46. Fretless 200A, Yankee Ingenuity- "Kitchen Junket" (1977). Front Hall 05, Fennigs All Stars- "Saturday Night in the Provinces." Front Hall 017, Michael and McCreesh- "Dance, Like a Wave of the Sea" (1978. Learned from English fiddler John Harrison). Hepatica 002, Carrie Crompton - "Angel's Draught." Sampler 8910, Mitzie Collins & Roxanne Ziegler - "St. Patrick's Day in the Morning." Song of the Wood 001, Jerry Read Smith - "The Strayaway Child."
T:Star of the County Down
L:1/8
M:3/4
S:Jay Ungar
K:A Minor
E2G2|A4A2|A4 GA|c4c2|d4 cd|e4 dc|A4 GE|(G6|G2)E2G2|A4A2|A4 GA|c4c2|
D4 cd|e4 dc|A2E2G2|1 (A6|A2) E2G2:|2 (A6|A2) AB cd|g4 g2|g4 ec|d4 d2|d4 (e/d/c/d/)|
E4 dc|A4 GE|(G6|G2) E2 G2|A4 A2|A4 GA|c4 Bc|d4 cd|e4 dc|A2E2G2|1 A6 AB cd e^f:|2
(A6|A2||