Ethnomusicology Commons^™

Ann Flood, Mairéad Farrell, And The Representation Of Armed Femininity In Irish Republican Ballads, Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

This article critically considers the representation of armed femininity within the attendant song tradition of Irish physical-force Republicanism, with specific focus on the personal and cultural consequences for two prominent female Republican activists, both of whom successfully traverse the gender demarcation lines of war. While noting the didactic, often misogynistic, trajectory of works narrating ‘transgressive’ females within the broader ballad tradition, this article seeks to determine whether or not the interwoven essentialist tropes of death, martyrdom and resurrection — all deeply-embedded ideological constructs within the framework of Irish Republicanism — successfully supersede calcified patriarchal mores and in so doing, facilitate …

“Young Men Of Erin, Our Dead Are Calling”: Death, Immortality And The Otherworld In Modern Irish Republican Ballads, Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

Irish physical-force Republicanism has long been noted for its tendency to promote the tropes of martyrdom and immortality as core tenets of its ideological belief system. This essay sets out to examine the genre of Republican death ballads so as to identify how such essentialist concepts are represented and promoted within the attendant song tradition. Particular attention will be paid to works that deploy overtly supernatural tropes in order to articulate the key Republican concept of heroic immortality. The present research will demonstrate the consistency with which such narrative devices have been retained within the Republican song tradition into the …

"Then To Death Walked, Softly Smiling": Violence And Martyrdom In Modern Irish Republican Ballads, Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

This article critically considers the representation of death within the song tradition of modern Irish Republicanism. I explore how such representations have changed in parallel with the various ideological metamorphoses that Irish Republicanism has undergone, specifically in the twentieth century. I argue that the centrality of self-sacrifice has resulted in the development of ballad narratives that deliberately obfuscate on the issue of Republican violence, resulting in the deaths of all Republican militants (regardless of cause or context), ultimately portrayed as a form of heroic self-martyrdom.

San alt seo, déantar anailís chriticiúil ar léiriú an bháis i dtraidisiún amhránaíocht Phoblachtach na …

In Search Of The Original "Skewball", Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

The well-known horseracing ballad ‘Skewball’ has been widely documented in oral tradition on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as on numerous English broadside printings. It recounts the tale of a mid-eighteenth-century horserace held at The Curragh of Kildare, in which a heavily-backed mare is comprehensively beaten by a relatively unknown skewbald gelding leaving the mare’s owner — along with much of the assembled onlookers — significantly out of pocket. The ballad became widely popularised in North America where it was first published in a song book in 1826 (Benton 1826:3-4). It was later subsumed into African-American song tradition, …

Horses For Discourses?: The Transition From Oral To Broadside Narrative In “Skewball”, Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

The well-known horse-racing ballad ‘Skewball’ (hereafter, SB) has a well-established oral tradition in Ireland, with versions documented throughout the eighteenth-,nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries. The latest is a 1979 field-recording of Derry folksinger and storyteller, Eddie Butcher (Shields 2011:58-9). The ballad was also assimilated into African-American oral tradition, in which it was reconstructed and renamed ‘Stewball’ (Scarborough 1925:61-4; Lomax 1994:68-71), and was still being documented in American folk tradition as late as the 1930s (Flanders 1939:172-4). In common with countless other folk songs, SB was appropriated by broadside printers and subsequently enjoyed widespread public appeal throughout England in the early- to …

The Irish Patriot, Dale Potter

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"The Irish Patriot" is a mysterious song. Judging by the title alone, one would guess it is of Irish origin, and after listening, the story told in the ballad would seem to confirm this suspicion. However, the song has only ever been collected in Maine, where it was likely a popular song among woodsmen, and the Maritime provinces of Canada.

The Champion Of Moose Hill, Raymond Mace

Maine Song and Story Sampler

“The Champion of Moose Hill” tells the true, comic story of a dance gone awry for one poor, inebriated soul.

Young Charlotte (Or Fair Charlotte), Ernest Lord

Maine Song and Story Sampler

Young Charlotte is an old ballad native to North America. It has been a popular ballad all over North America from Newfoundland to South Dakota, and widely studied. It was so popular, in fact, that it inspired a doll called Frozen Charlotte.

The Blackwater Side, Bill Cramp

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"The Blackwater Side" is one of many songs that came to Maine from the British Tradition. It is, as Bill Cramp called it, a "long love song." This ballad is one in a series of songs that consist of true lovers' discussions, but none are any more good humored than "The Blackwater Side."

The Soldier’S Letter, Joseph Pagett

Maine Song and Story Sampler

“The Soldier’s Letter” was one of several songs from the American Civil War that became popular in Canada.

The Teamster In Jack Macdonald’S Crew, Joseph Walsh

Maine Song and Story Sampler

When Walsh sang "The Teamster in Jack MacDonald's Crew" for Sandy Ives, it was a song he had never heard before and did not hear from anyone after, despite his best efforts to find it. Walsh either learned the song while working near Katahdin Iron Works around 1911 or from a friend back on PEI, he was not entirely sure.

Wild Colonial Boy, Thomas Cleghorn

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"Wild Colonial Boy" is one of a few songs that came to Maine from Australia by way of Britain. This particular version was collected in Canada, but the singer learned it in the Maine woods, a point that underscores the close connections of Maine and the Maritimes economically and culturally.

John Roberts, Clarence Berry

Maine Song and Story Sampler

“John Roberts” is one of many woods songs that tells the sad tale of a river driver who died on the job.

Heenan And Sayers, Mrs. Elwood Nickerson

Maine Song and Story Sampler

The ballad "Heenan and Sayers" described an event so popular that it overshadowed a civil war.

Guy Reed, Philip Walsh

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"Guy Reed" is one of several songs by one of the great woods songmakers in Maine and the Maritimes, Joe Scott. Guy Reed, son of Joseph and Remember Mitchell Reed, was born in 1874 in the Byron, Maine area, and died in a logging accident just a few miles above Livermore Falls, Maine, on September 9, 1897.

Benjamin Deane, Chester Price

Maine Song and Story Sampler

“Benjamin Deane” is a classic example of a confessional ballad, with a man in prison lamenting how he came to be there: bootlegging, adultery, and murder.

The Old Beggar Man, Edmund Doucette

Maine Song and Story Sampler

“The Old Beggar Man” is a version of Child 17, “Hind Horn.” It is believed to have originated in Scotland and possibly derived from the 13^th century King Horn and other related medieval romances.