"Jamie Foyers" is a song by the folk singer and songwriter

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

. In ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'',

Peggy Seeger Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935) is an American Folk music, folk singer. She has lived in Britain for more than 60 years, and was married to the singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl until his death in 1989. First American period Seeg ...

wrote that the song was written in the period 1937-1939 but could not give an exact year (although it is difficult to see how it could have been written before the First Battle of Gandesa in April 1938). The song was not copyrighted until 1963 by Stormking Music. It tells the story of a shipyard worker from the Clyde who goes to fight with the

International Brigade The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. He fights at the Battle of Belchite, and is killed at

Gandesa Gandesa () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Terra Alta, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. History In the place known as ''Coll del Moro'' there is an ancient Iberian archaeological site belonging to the Ilercavones tribe that l ...

(it is not clear if this is at the first or second battles, the International Brigade played an important role in both). MacColl adapted it from a traditional Scottish song about a soldier who fought in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, only retaining the first verse. By some accounts, Jamie Foyers was an actual person who was killed at

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

in 1812, but by other accounts it was originally a generic

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

term for a soldier. There is a last verse in some recordings of the song that does not appear in the version in ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook''. :He lies by the Ebro in far away Spain, :He died so that freedom and justice might reign; :Remember young Foyers and others of worth :And don't let one fascist be left on this earth.

References

External links

lyrics
of McColl's version

of earlier version {{authority control Ballads Scottish songs 20th century in Scotland Songs of the Spanish Civil War Songs written by Ewan MacColl Works about the Napoleonic Wars 1930s songs Year of song missing

See also

References

External links