There’s this version from 82 Christy which I absolutely love and Liam is in full flow on the pipes. This appears to be the only version on youtube, its pretty much the full gig but the way its been put up is awful, scroll to around 12:30 for it. There’s a proper recording of this on the DVD that comes with Between the Jigs and the Reels. Brilliant value that album is for what you get so well worth a look, I was at that particular gig, remember it well.
Hi Christy, it was 1992, not 1972 and unless you have a double, then it was definately yourself sitting across the aisle from me – Shucks!! you may have an imposter. Also went to your gig in the Swan, Stockwell London, you were playing with a group Purple Hearts.
Christy's reply
Played The Swan in Stockwell with Moving Hearts in 1982
Good luck to Rebecca, working on ‘True love knows no season’…long been one of my favourite Planxty songs.
A great live version on youtube – all the classic ingredients – wonderful song/ story – lovely Andy /Donal interplay, ace singing, Liam’s beautifully timed, delayed entry…Planxty epitomised in one song. Great to be reminded of it – setting a nice musical tone for a fine Autumn day.
Enjoy…
Dave
Christy's reply
just had a look at that..thanks for the reminder…the only thing missing is the piping that featured on the original recording..great to see Liam grooving along at his ease..fair play 2 U Dave
On Easter Monday, April 20th 1992, I suffered a cardiac arrest on board an Aer Lingus direct flight from Brussels to Dublin around 10 minutes after take-off,
the flight was diverted to Heathrow Airport, London and I was rushed by ambulance to Ashford Hospital, Middlesex.
You were on the same flight, do you remember this?
Christy's reply
my diary has no record of my being in the air at that time…(and I was 3 years off the sauce) …maybe it was Mario Rosenshtock…
did you like a wee drink yourself Terry ?….In 1972 I was on a flight to London after dropping a tab of acid…I was sitting beside the Blessed Virgin..she confirmed her visitation to Knock
Hi Christy. Hope you are all keeping well. A genuine question, not a trick question!
How would define a ballad in folk music and in the Irish song tradition?
There seems to be a bit of inconsistency when one researches.
Thanks for the songs.
Pat
Christy's reply
I think that the term “ballad singer” has a different meaning in Ireland then anywhere else…as far as I can tell the “ballad” era began with The Clancy Brothers…for us youths in Newbridge Co Kildare thats when the term entered our vernacular circa 1961….our “ballad boom” coincided with the Folk revival in the UK which was preceeded the earlier revival in USA…..while contemporaries of my own still think in terms of “the ballads” the younger generations tend to speak of Folk songs….its down to ones personal view and interpretation…I’ve just written a song..to me its a ballad..to another it will be a folk song…I wrote a song 30 years ago which was recently described as Traditional…an honour bestowed by the singer unintentionally…
such inconsistencies only arise when research is applied….
I’m reminded ..” we must uncover to discover to recover”
Hello Christy,
Thankyou for pointing me towards the Louise Mulcahy documentary on the Liam O’Flynn archive. I watched it yesterday.
I loved how she said that playing Liam’s B set is medicinal. Just like singing Mandolin Mountain. Do you find it the same?
Talking of comforting songs, i started learning John o dreams yesterday. I wish it mentioned women more, as protagonists, I mean.
I liked what Liam wrote about the importance of the song in slow airs.
Any particular fascists, or just in general? I’ve no idea what it meant.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
sitting or standing close to Liam as he played was always a great experience..
gotta flush ’em out first,then assess their intentions,tendencies and credentials
Hello Christy,
A new album, so looking forward to this. It will stop me wearing out the old ones. Is it all new new songs?
From a learning point of view the lock down has given me loads of time.
I get a whole day of work in the office done in two hours at home.
Then it’s practice time.
At teatime I start listening. 3 hours of planxty 2004, magic nights, early years, on the road, lian o flynn, words and nusic, the brendan voyage, between the jigs and the reels, the given note, out to an other side. Sometimes I stray further.
Steve cooks and we drink and I sing along. Singing along to you has done wonders for the bottom end of my voice. There’s notes there that I never knew existed. Steve harmonises.
Its pretty hermity but I like to focus.
Dear Christy,
We made it back after Stevie and Molly guided us round the Bannockburn battlesite, such a brilliant guide and a history.
We visited the Rooney family from Ireland, the mining descendents of those who came over , and who are resting now in Bannockburn cemetery.
Anyway it put me in mind of all the great local singers whether it is Ted Christopher who sings of the battles,or Liam McGrandles who sings for the crowd at Celtic Park, and then the travelling Stewart family of Perthshire.
I know you value the travelling tradition too , thankfully Topic records have captured some songs for posterity, and Martyn Bennett’s ‘Grit’ too.
I hope this finds you and yours well Christy.
Regards
Rory
Christy's reply
You’ve done it again there Rory,
Guided me back to Martyn Bennett’s “GRIT”
Heard Martyn once a while back at your behest, then I drifted back into my own Lab and forgot about Martyn ’til this mornings pleasant reminder
Mouthwatering playlist…& I don’t mean the Guinness…(much)
I have a dream of returning to your beautiful country to catch you live…
Keep on keeping’ on.
Danny Harris
Christy's reply
Danny Boy,
Maybe its Dreamtime or maybe I’m dreaming
maybe meet you on The Hill of Tara or Ayers Rock
in Wicklow or Woolloomaloo
Cutbush or Cudgee
2 gigs in 8 days…beyond last years wildest dreams
and I have 6 weeks to prepare for two more
For a year I wondered would I ever tread the boards again
But we’re still Flying Into Mystery
its all on a wing and a prayer
some move around carefully while others “go at it again”
Greetings to all you songsters out there
I’m practicin like bejasus down here in Bognia
hoping that we’ll all share space again somewhere along the road
“I go up on Mandolin Mountain,high on Melody Hill
high sweet harmony,water from The Well”……(Tony Small)
Hi Christy….re those halcyon days of the mid-sixties….Yes those were the days when, though weighed down with porter, you could pack the Ford Prefect with five or six farmers, stack their bicycles in the boot, tear off out the country in the early hours and with any luck, there’d be another alehouse that ‘d let ye in for ONE before ye got home ! Of course no-one EVER went in for ONE !!
Christy's reply
as we left the pub at dawn Barney said..
“theres a great stretch in the evenings”
Sorry to post again so soon. I’ve just seen all the news on your front page. Thankyou for keeping us up to date.
Flying into mystery
Its a fab song title, and album title.
Every line from 16 fishermen raving is a cracker
I’ve confused myself. Last night I wrote some Irish words, that I don’t know, on the guestbook. The proper name for Clonmell. I’m sorry to fill this great place with my idiotic ramblings .
Hello Christy,
I started to learn Mandolin Mountain yesterday. It been in my folder for ages.
Such a beauty it is and just two chords. I hummed my way round the tune while looking at the words. This is how I like to start.
Its one of those songs that feels like coming home.
Hope the gig was everything you wanted it to be & more!
Update on the song (sorry for delay) We had a great time going through all the suggestions and listening to lots of songs! However … with more recollection & research it turns out that it was an old Percy French parody she was recalling that it appears she heard from maybe Dominic Behan & Mike Harding ( vague recollection on it) hope you don’t mind me posting the words but just wanted to go full circle after you all were so good to help! Thanks!
Oh, a sailor courted a farmer’s daughter,
What lived contagious to the town of Strabane.
With loving melodies he did besought her.
That she’d marry him before, she married any other type, sort, kind or classification of a man.
Now the farmer’s daughter had proud possesions,
A silver teapot, and two pound ten in gold.
Would you still marry me, my bold salt water sailor,
If I had but nothing, no nothing at all in the world?
Oh I’d marry you, my heart’s conchantment,
If you’d nothing, only a father’s curse.
So she made up a bundle of all her proud possessions, and threw it down into the deep, cold sea.
That ends that verse.
Now the sailor he could swim like a duckling,
So he jumped down into the water deep and cold,
Grabbed the old bundle and swam away chuckling,
Thinking of the fun he’d be having when he got back down to Ballymalone.
Now the farmer’s daughter near killed herself laughing,
For what was in the bundle – only an old poteen of a stone.
Oh, a sailor courted a farmer’s daughter
And now he wishes he’d left her completely and utterly and entirely, alone.
Christy's reply
well done Eileen …that settles that quest…Percy French wrote some great songs in his day.. we used to sing some of them at home….Eileen Óg(The Pride of Petravore),Little Bridgie Flynn,Phil The Fluther’s Ball and Slattery’s Mounted Foot
There’s this version from 82 Christy which I absolutely love and Liam is in full flow on the pipes. This appears to be the only version on youtube, its pretty much the full gig but the way its been put up is awful, scroll to around 12:30 for it. There’s a proper recording of this on the DVD that comes with Between the Jigs and the Reels. Brilliant value that album is for what you get so well worth a look, I was at that particular gig, remember it well.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b6OjI376SXM
Hi Christy, it was 1992, not 1972 and unless you have a double, then it was definately yourself sitting across the aisle from me – Shucks!! you may have an imposter. Also went to your gig in the Swan, Stockwell London, you were playing with a group Purple Hearts.
Played The Swan in Stockwell with Moving Hearts in 1982
Hi Christy/ all
Good luck to Rebecca, working on ‘True love knows no season’…long been one of my favourite Planxty songs.
A great live version on youtube – all the classic ingredients – wonderful song/ story – lovely Andy /Donal interplay, ace singing, Liam’s beautifully timed, delayed entry…Planxty epitomised in one song. Great to be reminded of it – setting a nice musical tone for a fine Autumn day.
Enjoy…
Dave
just had a look at that..thanks for the reminder…the only thing missing is the piping that featured on the original recording..great to see Liam grooving along at his ease..fair play 2 U Dave
Hello Christy,
I think that’s cats, not fascists. It’s so easy to get those two mixed up. What you need is a great big net.
Can you tell us anything about the two gigs, six weeks away please?
Next on my list for learning is True love knows no reason. Hope to start on it today.
Rebecca
soon as they are confirmed..
On Easter Monday, April 20th 1992, I suffered a cardiac arrest on board an Aer Lingus direct flight from Brussels to Dublin around 10 minutes after take-off,
the flight was diverted to Heathrow Airport, London and I was rushed by ambulance to Ashford Hospital, Middlesex.
You were on the same flight, do you remember this?
my diary has no record of my being in the air at that time…(and I was 3 years off the sauce) …maybe it was Mario Rosenshtock…
did you like a wee drink yourself Terry ?….In 1972 I was on a flight to London after dropping a tab of acid…I was sitting beside the Blessed Virgin..she confirmed her visitation to Knock
Hi Christy. Hope you are all keeping well. A genuine question, not a trick question!
How would define a ballad in folk music and in the Irish song tradition?
There seems to be a bit of inconsistency when one researches.
Thanks for the songs.
Pat
I think that the term “ballad singer” has a different meaning in Ireland then anywhere else…as far as I can tell the “ballad” era began with The Clancy Brothers…for us youths in Newbridge Co Kildare thats when the term entered our vernacular circa 1961….our “ballad boom” coincided with the Folk revival in the UK which was preceeded the earlier revival in USA…..while contemporaries of my own still think in terms of “the ballads” the younger generations tend to speak of Folk songs….its down to ones personal view and interpretation…I’ve just written a song..to me its a ballad..to another it will be a folk song…I wrote a song 30 years ago which was recently described as Traditional…an honour bestowed by the singer unintentionally…
such inconsistencies only arise when research is applied….
I’m reminded ..” we must uncover to discover to recover”
A female take on morris dancing from West Yorkshire
https://youtu.be/VjeulJziNCk
well holy god in heaven but I never seen the likes
Hello Christy,
Thankyou for pointing me towards the Louise Mulcahy documentary on the Liam O’Flynn archive. I watched it yesterday.
I loved how she said that playing Liam’s B set is medicinal. Just like singing Mandolin Mountain. Do you find it the same?
Talking of comforting songs, i started learning John o dreams yesterday. I wish it mentioned women more, as protagonists, I mean.
I liked what Liam wrote about the importance of the song in slow airs.
Any particular fascists, or just in general? I’ve no idea what it meant.
Rebecca
sitting or standing close to Liam as he played was always a great experience..
gotta flush ’em out first,then assess their intentions,tendencies and credentials
Hi Christy, it’s been a while..do you think you will play Belfast soon..for 16 yrs they’ve been talking to the wall.
first chance I get
McBreen’s Heifer is another P French. A heifer and a dowry. Lines are hilarious.
O Mary This London ‘s a wonderful sight
“we were out spying on fascists last night”
Sure dat crowd wouldn’t even offer ye a cuppa tay!
you’re lettin them off light
Hello Christy,
A new album, so looking forward to this. It will stop me wearing out the old ones. Is it all new new songs?
From a learning point of view the lock down has given me loads of time.
I get a whole day of work in the office done in two hours at home.
Then it’s practice time.
At teatime I start listening. 3 hours of planxty 2004, magic nights, early years, on the road, lian o flynn, words and nusic, the brendan voyage, between the jigs and the reels, the given note, out to an other side. Sometimes I stray further.
Steve cooks and we drink and I sing along. Singing along to you has done wonders for the bottom end of my voice. There’s notes there that I never knew existed. Steve harmonises.
Its pretty hermity but I like to focus.
Anyone see Sarries and Ulster last night?
Rebecca
we were out spying on fascists last night
Dear Christy,
We made it back after Stevie and Molly guided us round the Bannockburn battlesite, such a brilliant guide and a history.
We visited the Rooney family from Ireland, the mining descendents of those who came over , and who are resting now in Bannockburn cemetery.
Anyway it put me in mind of all the great local singers whether it is Ted Christopher who sings of the battles,or Liam McGrandles who sings for the crowd at Celtic Park, and then the travelling Stewart family of Perthshire.
I know you value the travelling tradition too , thankfully Topic records have captured some songs for posterity, and Martyn Bennett’s ‘Grit’ too.
I hope this finds you and yours well Christy.
Regards
Rory
You’ve done it again there Rory,
Guided me back to Martyn Bennett’s “GRIT”
Heard Martyn once a while back at your behest, then I drifted back into my own Lab and forgot about Martyn ’til this mornings pleasant reminder
his work pure and precious
Thank You…..
Great to hear of your concerts Christy!
Mouthwatering playlist…& I don’t mean the Guinness…(much)
I have a dream of returning to your beautiful country to catch you live…
Keep on keeping’ on.
Danny Harris
Danny Boy,
Maybe its Dreamtime or maybe I’m dreaming
maybe meet you on The Hill of Tara or Ayers Rock
in Wicklow or Woolloomaloo
Cutbush or Cudgee
2 gigs in 8 days…beyond last years wildest dreams
and I have 6 weeks to prepare for two more
For a year I wondered would I ever tread the boards again
But we’re still Flying Into Mystery
its all on a wing and a prayer
some move around carefully while others “go at it again”
Greetings to all you songsters out there
I’m practicin like bejasus down here in Bognia
hoping that we’ll all share space again somewhere along the road
“I go up on Mandolin Mountain,high on Melody Hill
high sweet harmony,water from The Well”……(Tony Small)
Great to hear you are back doing live gigs. There’s nothing like it, and what a great song list. Take care. Sean Sinnott
Good Man Sean…
Its been a while since
I had some great gigs up there
way back in the day
“this platform is a rambling house”
“Me mind being bent on rambling so they christened Ramblin’ Robin oh!”
Is that a song splice?
Fair play Eileen from Tipp, a good result, great lyrics, further investigation of Percy required!
I’m a rambler, I’m a rambler from Manchester way
Hi Christy….re those halcyon days of the mid-sixties….Yes those were the days when, though weighed down with porter, you could pack the Ford Prefect with five or six farmers, stack their bicycles in the boot, tear off out the country in the early hours and with any luck, there’d be another alehouse that ‘d let ye in for ONE before ye got home ! Of course no-one EVER went in for ONE !!
as we left the pub at dawn Barney said..
“theres a great stretch in the evenings”
Sorry to post again so soon. I’ve just seen all the news on your front page. Thankyou for keeping us up to date.
Flying into mystery
Its a fab song title, and album title.
Every line from 16 fishermen raving is a cracker
I’ve confused myself. Last night I wrote some Irish words, that I don’t know, on the guestbook. The proper name for Clonmell. I’m sorry to fill this great place with my idiotic ramblings .
this platform is a rambling house
Hello Christy,
I started to learn Mandolin Mountain yesterday. It been in my folder for ages.
Such a beauty it is and just two chords. I hummed my way round the tune while looking at the words. This is how I like to start.
Its one of those songs that feels like coming home.
Rebecca
Hope the gig was everything you wanted it to be & more!
Update on the song (sorry for delay) We had a great time going through all the suggestions and listening to lots of songs! However … with more recollection & research it turns out that it was an old Percy French parody she was recalling that it appears she heard from maybe Dominic Behan & Mike Harding ( vague recollection on it) hope you don’t mind me posting the words but just wanted to go full circle after you all were so good to help! Thanks!
Oh, a sailor courted a farmer’s daughter,
What lived contagious to the town of Strabane.
With loving melodies he did besought her.
That she’d marry him before, she married any other type, sort, kind or classification of a man.
Now the farmer’s daughter had proud possesions,
A silver teapot, and two pound ten in gold.
Would you still marry me, my bold salt water sailor,
If I had but nothing, no nothing at all in the world?
Oh I’d marry you, my heart’s conchantment,
If you’d nothing, only a father’s curse.
So she made up a bundle of all her proud possessions, and threw it down into the deep, cold sea.
That ends that verse.
Now the sailor he could swim like a duckling,
So he jumped down into the water deep and cold,
Grabbed the old bundle and swam away chuckling,
Thinking of the fun he’d be having when he got back down to Ballymalone.
Now the farmer’s daughter near killed herself laughing,
For what was in the bundle – only an old poteen of a stone.
Oh, a sailor courted a farmer’s daughter
And now he wishes he’d left her completely and utterly and entirely, alone.
well done Eileen …that settles that quest…Percy French wrote some great songs in his day.. we used to sing some of them at home….Eileen Óg(The Pride of Petravore),Little Bridgie Flynn,Phil The Fluther’s Ball and Slattery’s Mounted Foot