"Here's a Health to the Company" is an Irish traditional song, based in the long history of emigration from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Its strong tune has also been used for other Irish traditional songs and for the American anthem, "

The Liberty Song "The Liberty Song" is a pre-American Revolutionary War song with lyrics by Founding Father John Dickinson (not by Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren of Plymouth, Massachusetts). The song is set to the tunes of "Heart of Oak", the anthem of the Royal Navy of th ...

Origins and history

The song might be of Ulster origin, perhaps derived from a Scottish original. Robin Morton lists it in ''Folksongs Sung in Ulster'', and

Paddy Tunney Paddy Tunney (28 January 1921 – 7 December 2002) was an Irish traditional singer, poet, writer, raconteur, lilter and songwriter. He was affectionately known as the ''Man of Songs''. From Glasgow to Garvery Tunney was born in Glasgow to Ir ...

learned the song from North Antrim singer

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 ...

. It is markedly similar to the Aberdeenshire song known as "The Emigrant's Farewell To Donside". Hugh Shields writes: "The song is quite well known in the northern counties of Ireland, and with varying text has been noted in Canada and Scotland, where it was perhaps composed." The use of the tune by the eighteenth-century American Liberty Song could reflect an association with Ulster Scots tradition, as most early Irish emigrants came from this community. There are several known variants on the lyric, but the set of words most frequently used today was popularised by

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

who recorded the song on their 1989 album ''

A Chieftains Celebration ''A Chieftains Celebration'' is an album by the Irish folk music group, The Chieftains. The title derives from the "celebration" of the millennium of the city of Dublin, Ireland. Track listing # "Coolin Medley" – 4:56 # "O'Mahoney's F ...

''.

References

External links

Youtube.com
{{Authority control Irish folk songs Works about human migration Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown