"The Wearing of the Green" is an Irish

street ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

lamenting the repression of supporters of the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...

. It is to an old Irish air, and many versions of the lyric exist, the best-known being by

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

. The song proclaims that "they are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green". The revolutionary Society of United Irishmen adopted green as its colour, and supporters wore green-coloured garments, ribbons, or

cockade A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. Eighteenth century In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were used in Europe to show the alleg ...

s. In some versions, the "green" being worn is shamrock rather than fabric.

Versions

Many versions of the lyric exist. The general format is that the narrator is a rebel who has left Ireland for exile and meets a public figure ( Napper Tandy, in most versions), who asks for news from Ireland, and is told that those wearing green are being persecuted. Halliday Sparling's ''Irish Minstrelsy'' (1888) includes the anonymous "Green upon the Cape", dated to 1798. This longer poem describes the narrator's journey into exile before reaching the elements common to later versions. The narrator is a

croppy Croppy was a nickname given to United Irishmen rebels during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule in Ireland. History The nickname "Croppy" was used in 18th-century Ireland in reference to the cropped hair worn by Irish nationa ...

from Belfast who arrives in Paris and is questioned by "Boney" (

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

). In an 1802 version published in Dundalk entitled "Green on my Cape", it is

Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...

who meets the narrator, in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

. Versions from the 1840s and 1850s feature Napoleon. The best-known version is by

, adapted for his 1864 play ''Arragh na Pogue, or the Wicklow Wedding'', set in County Wicklow during the 1798 rebellion. In the second verse, Boucicault's version recounts an encounter between the singer and Napper Tandy, an Irish rebel leader exiled in France. Boucicault claimed to have based his version on a half-remembered Dublin street ballad. His addition of the third and last verses is in notable contrast to the middle verse in advocating emigration to America rather than staying in defiance. Boucicault himself fled to New York after leaving his wife for a young actress. Henry Grattan Curran (1800–76), son of

John Philpot Curran John Philpot Curran (24 July 1750 – 14 October 1817) was an Irish orator, politician, wit, lawyer and judge, who held the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland. He was renowned for his representation in 1780 of Father Neale, a Catholic pri ...

, wrote a version of his own, and claimed the original was written in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

Wellington Guernsey Wellington Guernsey (correct name: William Greville Hudson Guernsey) (8 June 1817 – 13 November 1885) was an Irish composer, poet, and military man. Biography Guernsey was born in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, studied briefly as a boy with the well ...

's version was published in 1866. In the 1937 Hopalong Cassidy film, ''

North of the Rio Grande ''North of the Rio Grande'' is a lost 1922 American silent Western film directed by Rollin S. Sturgeon and starring Bebe Daniels and Jack Holt.Walter Long's Irish character, Bull O'Hara, leads the singing of another version of the song. The lyrics in this version are lighthearted and celebrate the beauty of Ireland.

Musical source

The tune of "The Wearing of the Green" was first published in ''The Citizen, or Dublin Monthly Magazine'', vol. III, January–June 1841. The earliest melodic variant appeared four years later under the title "Up! For the Green" in James Duffy's ''The Spirit of the Nation'' (Dublin, 1845), p. 216. Other melodic versions exist in Alfred Moffat's ''The Minstrelsy of Ireland'' (London, 1897; p. 56) and

Francis O'Neill Francis O'Neill (August 28, 1848 – January 26, 1936) was an Irish-born American police officer and collector of Irish traditional music. His biographer Nicholas Carolan referred to him as "the greatest individual influence on the evolution o ...

's ''O'Neill's Music of Ireland'' (Chicago, 1903; p. 81, tune number 467).

In popular culture

Gerald O'Hara sings this tune while escorting his daughters to the barbecue at Twelve Oaks in Chapter 5 of Margaret Mitchell's ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

''. The stranger known as "Namgay Dooly" sings something like these words in the short story "Namgay Doolyat", part of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's ''Life's Handicap''.

Recordings

Artists and groups to have recorded the song include John McCormack (1904, again in 1912),

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

(1940), Patrick O'Malley (1961),

The Kelly Family The Kelly Family is an Irish-American music group consisting of a multi-generational family, usually nine siblings who were joined occasionally on stage in their earlier years by their parents. They play a repertoire of rock, pop, and folk music ...

(1979),

The Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning of ...

(1985),

Orthodox Celts Orthodox Celts is a Serbian band formed in Belgrade in 1992 which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their uncharacteristic genre in their home country, the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has ...

(1997), and Irish Moutarde

Allusions

Irish composer

(1817–1885) made a new version for voice and piano in 1866. Similarly, an arrangement of the melody with new words by

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

was written by

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the ...

(1852–1924) in 1900. Several 19th-century composers wrote piano arrangements of the tune, including Thomas Brown (1866), William Henry Goodban (1866), Fred Beyer (1875), and Willie Pape (1875). The Franco-Irish composer

Joseph O'Kelly Joseph O'Kelly (29 January 1828 – 9 January 1885), composer, pianist and choral conductor, was the most prominent member of a family of Irish musicians in 19th- and early 20th-century France. He wrote nine operas, four cantatas, numerous piano ...

(1828–1885) used the tune of "The Wearing of the Green" in his ''Air irlandais'' op. 58 (1877) for piano, consisting of a statement of the tune in piano arrangement, followed by two virtuoso variations. Other songs which refer to "The Wearing of the Green" include "

Monto Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in the northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street (formerly Gloucester Street) i ...

", popularised by

the Dubliners The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-ye ...

; and "Each Dollar A Bullet", by

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

. Another 1798 ballad also entitled "The Wearing of the Green" references the more famous song in its chorus: 'Her faithful sons will ever sing "The Wearing of the Green."' Songs sung to the same air include " The Rising of the Moon", whose subject is the same 1798 rising; "

The Orange and the Green "The Orange and the Green" or "The Biggest Mix-Up" is a humorous Irish folk song about a man whose father was a Protestant ("Orange") and whose mother was a Catholic ("Green"). It describes the man's trials as the product of religious intermar ...

", about a mixed (Protestant–Catholic) marriage; and "Sae Will We Yet" by Scottish folk group

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

. "The Wearing of the Grey", a lament for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, was published to the same tune in 1865, at the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

References

* *

External links

Lyric of The Wearing of the Green
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wearing Of The Green, The Ballads of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 Protest songs Judy Garland songs