Play recording: Lonely Woods of Upton, The
níl an taifead seo ar fáil faoi láthair
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- Teideal (Title): Lonely Woods of Upton, The.
- Uimhir Chatalóige Ollscoil Washington (University of Washington Catalogue Number): none.
- Uimhir Chnuasach Bhéaloideas Éireann (National Folklore of Ireland Number): none.
- Uimhir Roud (Roud Number): 9695.
- Uimhir Laws (Laws Number): none.
- Uimhir Child (Child Number): none.
- Cnuasach (Collection): Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.
- Teanga na Croímhíre (Core-Item Language): English.
- Catagóir (Category): song.
- Ainm an té a thug (Name of Informant): Joe Heaney.
- Ainm an té a thóg (Name of Collector): Ewan Mac Coll and Peggy Seeger.
- Dáta an taifeadta (Recording Date): 1963.
- Suíomh an taifeadta (Recording Location): London, England.
- Ocáid an taifeadta (Recording Occasion): private.
- Daoine eile a bhí i láthair (Others present): Peggy Seeger.
- Stádas chóipcheart an taifeadta (Recording copyright status): unavailable.
Many a home is filled with sadness and with sorrow
Many a heart is filled with anguish and with pain
See how Ireland, how she hangs her head in mourning
For the men who died at Upton far away.
Let the moon shine bright tonight along the valley
Where the heroes of Republic in ambush lay
May they rest in peace, those men who died for Ireland
Near the lonely woods of Upton far away.
Some were thinking of their mothers, wives and sweethearts
More were thinking of their good old Irish homes
Did they think of how they fought along the valley
As they marched out from Cork City to their doom.
It wasn’t long ’til the cry went out, ‘Fix bayonets!’
Manfully they fixed them for the coming fray
Manfully they fought and died to free old Ireland
Near the lonely woods of Upton far away.
Some are sleeping ‘neath the waters of Cork Harbour
More are sleeping ‘neath the good old Irish clay
But their voices seem to cry out ‘God save Ireland!’
From the lonely woods of Upton far away.
Let the moon shine bright tonight along the valley
Where the heroes of Republic in ambush lay
Their voices seem to cry out, ‘God save Ireland!’
From the lonely woods of Upton far away.
EM: Is that a common song, Joe?
JH: Well, it’s a very popular song in Ireland.
EM: Is it? Popular where? All over Ireland?
JH: All over Ireland. In fact, you couldn’t sing a better song in Ireland than that.
EM: What’s the episode it refers to?
JH: It refers to the Black and Tan period, 1921 to 22. And the reason I sang it for you now is because I was told there was a song in America, the air was more or less the same and that’s why I sang it for you.
EM: ‘The Moon is Shining on the Wabash.’
Notes
1. These remarks are not included on The Road from Connemara, but are on the audio tapes of the Mac Coll interviews deposited in the Joe Heaney Collection at the University of Washington (UW85–9.3). A transcription by Fred McCormick is also available.
2. Tom Munnelly writes of this song, also known as The Upton Ambush:
A maudlin ballad relating to an incident in the War of Independence when three members of the IRA lost their lives in an engagement at Upton Junction, County Cork, on February 15th, 1921. The songwriter lifted his verse from an earlier song On the Shores of Havana, relating to the Spanish-American War. He [presumably the author of On the Shores of Havana] in turn took his inspiration from On the Banks of the Wabash written by Paul Dresser and Theodore Dreiser in 1899.
Issued on The Road from Connemara (Cló Iar-Chonnachta CICD 143 / Topic TSCD 518D.