The lyrics to the song ''The Mountains of Mourne'' (originally spelt ''The Mountains o' Mourne'') were written by Irish musician
Percy French
William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) was an Irish songwriter, author, poet, entertainer and painter.
Life
French was born at Clooneyquinn House, near Tulsk, County Roscommon, the son of an Anglo-Irish landlord, Christopher F ...
(1854–1920). The music was adapted by
Houston Collisson
William Alexander Houston Collisson (20 May 1865 – 31 January 1920) was an Anglo-Irish priest, writer, organist, pianist, impresario, and composer, mainly remembered for his long collaboration with Percy French.
Life
Collisson was born in Dubli ...
(1865–1920) from the traditional
Irish folk
Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...
tune "Carrigdonn" or "Carrigdhoun". The latter had been similarly used by
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...
(1779–1852) for his song ''Bendemeer's Stream''.
The song is representative of French's many works concerning the
Irish diaspora. The
Mourne Mountains of the title are located in
County Down in Northern Ireland.
The song is a whimsical look at the styles, attitudes and fashions of late nineteenth-century London as seen from the point of view of an emigrant labourer from a village near the Mourne Mountains. It is written as a message to the narrator's true love at home. The "sweep down to the sea" refrain was inspired by the view of the mountains from
Skerries in north
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
. It contrasts the artificial attractions of the city with the more natural beauty of his homeland.
Notable versions
* During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the song ''Old Gallipoli's A Wonderful Place'' used phrases from this song as a basis for some of its verses. Verses in the Gallipoli song include: "At least when I asked them, that's what they told me" and "Where the old Gallipoli sweeps down to the sea".
* Australian
baritone Peter Dawson popularised the song in the 1920s.
* The song featured on the 1958 album, ''The Immortal Percy French'', featuring the voice of Irish
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
Brendan O'Dowda.
* It was used in the jingle of
Ulster Television
UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc an ...
's first logo in 1959.
* The
Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...
recorded the song in their 1960 album ''Sold Out''. Nick Reynolds sang the lead.
* Singer
Ottilie Patterson
Anna Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Anna Ottilie Patterson was ...
recorded it in December 1959 with
Chris Barber's Jazz Band
Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with " Petite Fl ...
on the EP "Ottilie Swings the Irish"
* Singer-songwriter
Don McLean
Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...
recorded a version titled ''Mountains o' Mourne'' on ''
Playin' Favorites'' in 1973, which reached number two on the
Irish Singles Chart,
and appears on several of his "Greatest Hits" collections.
* In 1973,
Frank Hyde
Frank Hyde MBE OAM (7 February 1916 – 24 September 2007) was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and radio caller. A New South Wales representative three-quarter, Hyde played his club football in Sydney for NSWRFL Premiership clubs ...
covered the song on his first album, ''Frank Hyde Sings''.
* Folk singer
Charlie King recorded the song on his album ''Somebody's Story'' in 1979.
* The song was referenced ("Where the Mountains of Mourne come down to the sea, is such a long, long way from Tipperary") in 1979 on the title track of ''
Black Rose: A Rock Legend'', the ninth studio album by Irish
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...
* The song was recorded by
Tarkio, an
alt-country
Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...
band led by
Colin Meloy
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoust ...
, later of
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...
for their EP ''Sea Songs for Landlocked Sailors'' in 1998, and included on ''Omnibus'', a collection of Tarkio's recordings released by
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally know ...
in 2006.
*
Finbar Furey covered the song on the album ''Chasing Moonlight: Love Songs of Ireland'' in 2003.
* In 2008,
Celtic Thunder released the song on their eponymous debut album. Their recording is adapted from
Don McLean
Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...
's version of the song and performed by
Keith Harkin.
Lyrics
:''The Mountains o' Mourne''
:by Percy French (1896)
:Oh, Mary, this London's a wonderful sight,
:With people all working by day and by night.
:Sure, they don't sow potatoes, nor barley, nor wheat,
:But there's gangs of them digging for gold in the street.
:At least when I asked them that's what I was told,
:So I just took a hand at this digging for gold,
:But for all that I found there I might as well be
:Where the Mountains o' Mourne sweep down to the sea.
:I believe that when writing a wish you expressed
:As to how the fine ladies in London are dressed,
:Well if you'll believe me, when asked to a ball,
:They don't wear no top to their dresses at all.
:Oh I've seen them meself and you could not in truth,
:Say if they were bound for a ball or a bath.
:Don't be starting such fashions, now, Mary, mo chroí,
:Where the Mountains o' Mourne sweep down to the sea.
:I've seen England's king from the top of a bus
:And I've never known him, but he means to know us.
:And tho' by the Saxon we once were oppressed,
:Still I cheered, God forgive me, I cheered with the rest.
:And now that he's visited Erin's green shore
:We'll be much better friends than we've been heretofore
:When we've got all we want, we're as quiet as can be
:Where the Mountains o' Mourne sweep down to the sea.
:You remember young Peter O'Loughlin, of course,
:Well, now he is here at the head of the Force.
:I met him today, I was crossing the Strand,
:And he stopped the whole street with a wave of his hand.
:And there we stood talkin' of days that are gone,
:While the whole population of London looked on.
:But for all these great powers he's wishful like me,
:To be back where the dark Mournes sweep down to the sea.
:There's beautiful girls here, oh, never you mind,
:With beautiful shapes nature never designed,
:And lovely complexions all roses and cream,
:But let me remark with regard to the same
:That if of those roses you ventured to sip,
:The colours might all come away on your lip,
:So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waiting for me
:In the place where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountains of Mourne, The
Irish songs
Songs written by Percy French
1896 songs