Eddie Butcher
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Eddie Butcher (8 May 1900 – 8 September 1980) was an Irish traditional singer, folk-song collector and songwriter from
Magilligan Magilligan () is a peninsula that lies in the northwest of County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, at the entrance to Lough Foyle, within Causeway Coast and Glens district. It is an extensive coastal site, part British army firing range, part ...
, County Londonderry. He had an extensive repertoire of songs that he performed in a sturdy, earthy style. In 1953, Dr. Hugh Shields began to notate and record Butcher's songs, published later in two books: ''Shamrock, Rose & Thistle'' (1981) and ''All the Days of his Life'' (2011), the latter accompanied by a set of three CDs. Starting in 1966, Butcher performed in frequent radio broadcasts from Dublin and Belfast, and recorded four albums of his songs, on one EP and three LPs. He inspired other singers such as
Joe Holmes Joe Holmes (born June 11, 1963) is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his stint with Ozzy Osbourne between 1995 and 2001. He has also played with Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and the L.A. band Lizzy Borden in addition to lea ...
, Len Graham, and
Frank Harte Frank Harte (14 May 1933 – 27 June 2005) was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer. He was born in Chapelizod, County Dublin, and raised in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte, who had moved from a farming backgroun ...
, as well as a younger generation of musicians, notably Andy Irvine and
Paul Brady Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. Initially popular for playing ...
who added musical accompaniment to some of his songs.


Early life and employment

Eddie Butcher was born on 8 May 1900, in a house that stood on the dividing line between the small
townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
s of Duncrun and Tamlaght, and lived all his life in
Magilligan Magilligan () is a peninsula that lies in the northwest of County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, at the entrance to Lough Foyle, within Causeway Coast and Glens district. It is an extensive coastal site, part British army firing range, part ...
, County Londonderry, in the far north-west corner of modern Ulster. He was the fifth of John and Elizabeth (Clyde) Butcher's ten children brought up from the 1890s to the 1920s, and whose names are, in order of seniority: Robert, Katey, Rose, Patrick, Eddie, John, Willy, Maggie, Lily, and Jimmy. All except Lily were singers and those who were old enough learned the core of their repertory from their father, who died in 1920 and had been a ''daysman'', or
day labourer Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work. Types Day laborers (also k ...
for local farmers. Butcher started work by lifting potatoes at the age of 12, and later went for hiring at "the Rabble" and "the Gallop", the hiring fairs in Coleraine and Limavady respectively, in May and November. By the time he was 20, he was a ''daysman'' himself. In his late twenties, he turned from farm work to a variety of other jobs, such a working as a gardener and handyman,
peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
-cutting, building, road-making, thatching and working in a
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
, often cycling long distances to and from work each day. Before he retired, he spent 18 years with the
Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
on the River Roe drainage project.


Singing career

Both Butcher and his wife Gracie (), whom he married in 1933, came from noted local singing families, and whenever there was a dance or another occasion in the vicinity, Butcher's father would be asked to come along to sing, and the brothers and sisters of both families were also well-known performers, locally. During Butcher's childhood, their house was always one of the most popular ''
cèilidh A cèilidh ( , ) or céilí () is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house p ...
'' houses in Magilligan, with neighbours dropping in regularly for a night of ''
craic ''Craic'' ( ) or ''crack'' is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – ''the'' craic – as in the expression "What's the craic ...
'', until the practice died out in the area. Before he left home, Butcher learned the greater part of his repertoire from his father and, later, from his brothers and from Gracie's sisters. He also had a gift for writing his own songs, set to traditional airs and often about local events or his own experience as a farm labourer or road worker in later life. From 1953 onwards, he was regularly interviewed by Hugh Shields, who recorded about sixty songs from him within a couple of years, either in manuscript form or, later, through tape recording equipment, and published some of these songs in the 1981 book ''Shamrock, Rose & Thistle''. In 1966, Butcher began to sing frequently on radio from Dublin or Belfast and some of his songs were released on discs, first in 1969 on the EP ''Adam in Paradise'', followed in 1976 by an LP, also titled ''Shamrock, Rose & Thistle''. These radio broadcasts brought him some renown, and attracted the attention of local tradition bearers like
Joe Holmes Joe Holmes (born June 11, 1963) is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his stint with Ozzy Osbourne between 1995 and 2001. He has also played with Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and the L.A. band Lizzy Borden in addition to lea ...
(1906-1978) and Len Graham (b. 1944), with whom he sang and performed. They joined him at his home for the 1975 sessions that yielded two albums of rare Ulster songs: Butcher's ''I Once Was a Daysman'', and ''Chaste Muses, Bards and Sages'' by Holmes & Graham. Other frequent visitors to his house included Jackie Devenney ( Coleraine), Brian Mullen ( Derry), and occasionally Andy Irvine (b. 1942) who, along with
Paul Brady Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. Initially popular for playing ...
(b. 1947), has re-interpreted several of Butcher's songs since the 1970s, often by adding instrumental accompaniment. In 1978, Butcher released his final album: ''Sings the Titanic and Other Traditional Folk Songs''. Two cassettes, featuring eight previously unreleased songs and entitled ''Shamrock, Rose & Thistle 2'' and ''Shamrock, Rose & Thistle 3'', were released posthumously in 1983 by Shields on behalf of the
Folk Music Society of Ireland Dr Hugh Shields (8 September 1929 – 16 July 2008) was an authority on Irish traditional music and a founder member of the Folk Music Society of Ireland and the Irish Traditional Music Archive. He was also a senior lecturer in French at Trinit ...
. Some of the songs in Butcher's repertoire had also been collected from other sources by Sam Henry for inclusion in his column, '' Songs of the People'', published weekly in Coleraine's '' Northern Constitution'' from 1923 until 1939. This treasury of nearly 700 songs fostered many recordings from the 1950s onwards, and several of these songs are therefore listed as having been recorded by Butcher, and other singers, in the book '' Sam Henry's Songs of the People'', published in 1990. In 2011, the Irish Traditional Music Archive published the book ''All the Days of His Life'', releasing Shields' extensive work, edited by his wife Lisa Shields and Nicholas Carolan, and telling Butcher's story in his own words. The book is accompanied by three CDs containing a further 67 songs of Butcher's previously unreleased recordings.


Death

Eddie Butcher died on 8 September 1980. An article entitled "An old friend: Eddie Butcher" was published in issue 18 (November 1980) of the
Folk Music Society of Ireland Dr Hugh Shields (8 September 1929 – 16 July 2008) was an authority on Irish traditional music and a founder member of the Folk Music Society of Ireland and the Irish Traditional Music Archive. He was also a senior lecturer in French at Trinit ...
's newsletter, ''Ceol Tíre'', in which Shields stated:


Discography


Solo recordings

* ''Adam in Paradise'' (Ulster Folk UFM.1 EP, 1969) – Release of: "The Inniskilling Dragoon", "I Long For to Get Married", "Adam in Paradise" and "The Cocks Are Crowing" * ''Shamrock Rose & Thistle'' (Leader LED 2070 LP, 1976) – Release of 14 songs * ''I Once Was a Daysman'' (Free Reed FRR 003 LP, 1976) – Release of 11 songs * ''Sings The Titanic and Other Traditional Folk Songs'' (Outlet OAS3007 LP, 1978) – Release of 14 songs * ''Shamrock Rose & Thistle 2'' (FMSI cassette, 1983) – Release of: "Alexander", "The Faughan Side", "The Mason's Word", and the last verse of "The Banks of Kilrea" * ''Shamrock Rose & Thistle 3'' (FMSI cassette, 1983) – Release of: a song fragment of "The Bonny Irish Boy", "Down By the Canal", "Pat Reilly", and "The Widows Daughter" * ''Adam in Paradise'' (ITMA 101 CD, 2005) – Re-release of the 1969 EP * ''All the Days of His Life : Eddie Butcher in His Own Words'' (ITMA 3x CDs set, 2011) – Release of 67 previously unreleased songs sung by Eddie Butcher, as a set of companion recordings to the book of the same title with the lyrics and notated music of all the songs.


Compilations

* ''Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry'' (Leader LEA 4055 LP, 1972) – Includes Butcher's "The Bride Stolen By Fairies" and "The Widow's Daughter" * ''Come Let Us Buy the Licence (The Voice of the People Vol. 1)'' (Topic TSCD651 CD, 1998) – Includes Butcher's "David's Flowery Vale" * ''Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land (The Voice of the People Vol. 4)'' (Topic TSCD654, CD 1998) – Includes Butcher's "Killyclare" * ''Come All My Lads That Follow the Plough (The Voice of the People Vol. 5)'' (Topic TSCD655 CD, 1998) – Includes Butcher's "Tossing The Hay" * ''Tonight I'll Make You My Bride (The Voice of the People Vol. 6)'' (Topic TSCD656 CD, 1998) – Includes Butcher's "Another Man's Wedding" * ''This Label is Not Removable'' (Free Reed FRTCD 25; 3x CDs set, 2002) – Includes Butcher's "Let them come to Ireland", "Down the moor", and "The Hiring Fair" * ''Revival re: Masters'' (Free Reed FRRRS-128 ; 18x CDs box set, 2008) – Includes 1x CD combining Butcher's ''I Once Was A Daysman'' (11 songs, plus a bonus track: ""The Mountain Streams") with ''Chaste Muses, Bards & Sages'' (9 songs) by
Joe Holmes Joe Holmes (born June 11, 1963) is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his stint with Ozzy Osbourne between 1995 and 2001. He has also played with Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and the L.A. band Lizzy Borden in addition to lea ...
and Len Graham


Bibliography

* * *


Song collection

The following two tables show the songs from Butcher's collection that were recorded and published in print.


List of recorded songs

* Song title – the title of the song; an asterisk (*) indicates Eddie Butcher wrote the song (this column is sortable) * Singer – the name of the singer (this column is sortable) * Album – the title of the album featuring the recorded song (this column is sortable) * Year – the year the album was released (this column is sortable) * Notes – a reference about the song and/or its recording (this column is not sortable).


List of printed songs

* Song title – the title of the song; an asterisk (*) indicates Eddie Butcher wrote the song (this column is sortable) * Year – the year the song was collected (this column is sortable) * Book – the title of the book featuring the published song, including score notation (this column is sortable) * Notes – a reference about the song and/or its publication (this column is not sortable).


Notes


References


Further reading

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Eddie 1900 births 1980 deaths People from County Londonderry 20th-century Irish male singers Irish folk singers Irish folk-song collectors Musicians from County Londonderry 20th-century musicologists