Irish National Songs.

Evening Star, Issue 7301, 27 August 1887, Page 5 (Supplement)

Irish National Songs.

'Seitial Correspondent or the ' Daily News.'J

The Liberals iu the North of Ireland, who call themselves " Unionists," share with many people in England the conviction that a satisfactory settlement of the land question would, with other local reforms in Ireland, put an end to the agitation for Home Rule. Closer association with the Nationalists than such gentlemen permit themselves is not favorable to that view, and those men in the North who either mingle with the Nationalists, or strive to keep themselves impartial, do not agree that the National sentiment in Ireland will ever be repressed. These are men who have studied rather than opposed of ignored this sentiment. " Five years ago," said one of these gentlemen to me, "I would have looked with suspicion upon any greenbacked (i.e., Nationalist) publication. Now I read them eagerly, and I see in them the depth of the National sentiment." He indicated that he shared in it too, although he had not made public profession of his opinions in a hostile town like Belfast. "Any man here," he added, "who once shakes himself free from the strong local prejudice on this question cannot fail to see how the drift is inevitably towards Home Rule, whatever may be done in the meantime. Of the 'green-backed" literature large supplies are furnished yearly from the ' Nation' office, whence Issue Irish penny readings, Irish songs, speeches of Irishmen from the dock. These have a large circulation among the people of the West and South of Ireland, among whom the tradition of nationhood is thus sedulously cultivated. The speeches of Wolfe Tone, Emmet, and other patriots who have liaranged the Judges from the dock are sold extensively. The volume of collected speeches circulated from the ' Nation' office has reached twenty-eight editions. Each edition, I was assured, represented 10,000 copies, while of some of the earlier editions 20,000 were printed. The extraordinary demand of course cannot be accounted for by Irish consumption only, Of this kind of literature large quantities are exported, and thus the sentiment is perpetuated which leads to the magnificent pecuniary support given to Irish national movements by the countrymen of Ireland abroad. In the 1 cottages of the west, the portraits of national heroes in rough prints are to be seen side by side with representations of the Pope, or pictures illustrating religious subjects. The events of current political history are treated in popular and remarkably bad ballads, and are sung in the streets. Thus, on the release of Mr John Dillon, the ballad writer breaks forth : From all around green E'in'si shore tho shouts of

Granuail Did wcloo'i o brave John Dillon 9ife frcm Kiltuain

him Gail. Ho cimc out free with libcrt)-, unconditionally ycu'll

own, And the cheers they did resound, my boys, along to

Irmishowen. More neck-breaking still in the roughness of its rhythm is the complimentary address to Father O'Hara, according to which

Right well he is respected, too, round the County of

Mayo, Alao by Roscommon, too, and the County of SHgo, And that he may wear a cardinal's hat as Paul Cullen

done before, That the Lord may hare such a gift, we hope, for him

in store. It is quite a relief to get safe and sound to the end of this rough ballad, and after soaring with the poet over such scraggy ground to alight on the comparatively smooth period:—

Long may he live amongst u? in splendor to be seen, Till the Lord will make him Bishop here ifl Ballagha-

derrcen. It is hardly possible, one would think, to protest that, as far as such productions are concerned, the National leaders can hardly be suspected of themselves creating their own panegyrics. Better things have been produced recently in Longford County, where a tenant has just published by subscription a volume of his songs on the events of the day. The following view of Mr Biggar shows what that gentleman is thought of in his own country :

We dearly love to dwell On the limits of Parnell, And to praise bis faithful party as a whole. But our toast to-night ehall be " Obstruction's" patentee— To worthy Joseph Biggar fill a bowl! Hip, hip.'hurrah! Ever foremost in the fray, To Erin true aB needle tJ the pelf. Never deaf to duty's e 'll, Noblest Roman of them all— To wo;thy Joseph Bigg r fill a bowl ! The song goes on to ransack the vocabulary of simile and metaphor in exaltation of Mr Biggar's virtues, the exigencies of rhyme rather stimulating than restraining the panegyric. His constancy to bis leader and unshrinking devotion to duties are the attributes of " worthy Joseph Biggar " that inspire the local poet. The recommendations of the leader himself arc sung in many stanzas, of which the following brings out the leading motive of national sentiment in the West: Ho vowed that outside tho toiler's do* r Gaunt famine no itoro ehould dwell, Ncr the land-hit f teize on his tciiity store; That want and corrow woa'd fly our sro e, And tho ring of the crowb <i he heard no more— Our Ugifant chief, Parnell.

In another vein the same poet sings " We'll have no Prince but Charley." A song to the " Grand Old Man," if not of the highest order of merit, compares favorably with the doggerel on the same tliemo sung at English political meetings. It sets forth that Mr Gladstone's peaceful message is accepted ; that he will give a troubled land repose; and that leagues and treaties are made all in vain against the Grand Old Man. Though the following would be more aptly described as rhyming prose than verse, its appearance in a new issue of national poems is noteworthy as a testimony to the genuineness of the change in the national sentiment towards England : Should Britain's rule s wisely elect To Rive us our i ights at last, , Their proffered friendship we'll not rtject. Wc will freely forgive the past, The hopo of vengeance ivoM cease to nurse For our own or our fathers' wrongs, And the name of the Saxon no longer curse In our speeches or toasts or songs.

In the same volume appears a rhymed version of a letter actually written by the poet for a„neighbor to his son in the United States. This rhyme, written before the Plan of Campaign was thought of, illustrates one of the positions taken up by the promoters of that plan, who plead that their poor protegrs have to drain their relatives abroad in order to pay their landlords. The rhyming letter thanks a son for a cheque which he sent, and says :

Twas some comforts d« signed to procure, I suppose. So it did ; but / did not enjoy them, Lord knows. The fa 11 am almost ashamed to discloseBut I us- d it to rook: up the rent.

At Nationalist gatherings in Ireland the national sentiment is poured forth with impressive ardor in after-dinner songs. Thomas Davis is the national poet whose songs seem to be most in favor. One of his choruses— And then I prayed I yet might see Our fetters rent in twain ; And Ireland, long a province, be A nation once again—was sung with the utmost fervor at a dinner given to Mr O'Brien at Longford the other Sunday evening, while you could hardly spend a night m a social meeting without

hearing the stirring strains of " The West/* Awake."

The present poet - Laureate of Irish Nationalists appears to be the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr T. D. Sullivan, M.P. He aspires both to make the ballads and the laws for hi 3 nation, and the collections of his songs reprinted from the 'Nation,* especially his " Green Leaves," are in favor all over Ireland. The following " Lay of the Laud League," when sung ia my hearing the other night by a member of Parliament, seemed to be known to the whole company, who took up and made a refrain of the last line of each' verse in the most enthusiastic manner :■—

Come ali true son* of Erin. I hope you will draw near, ' A new and true narration I mean to Jet you hear; "Si» for your information I pens tries? simple lines Cons twiner of the Land League, likewise of Murty llynei Ths place that Murfy lives in is handy to Loughres. Tbe mau is good ana dacent, but he was led astray. He did what every Chris'.ion must call a burning shame; Dut now he lias rtpinted, ar.d di-ared bis nones* nswe. For when upon the roadside poor Bermfngham was sint, Because with all his stwinp, he could not pay tbe riot, And Keep ould Lord Duosindle in bones, dogs, and wines, Who comen and takes the hcultiing bui foolish Murty Hynes? But when the noble Land League got word of his d Horace, Thry sint a ruin to Murty to raison out tbe case. ' I own my crime,' sr.ys Murty; but I'll wash out tbe state— I'll keep that farm no longer; I'll giro it np again.-

And tben hj? wrote a letter, and sint it to the League, S»yin* " iVoin the cause of Ireland I never will re-

nege ; And never more, I promise, while Heaven above me shiacs, Will 1 for land go grabbing, says honest Murty Hynes. Ooh, whin the people heard it, they gathered in a

crowd; The boys brought ouC tb«ir banners, and bate their

dunn aloud; .-,,,,.. And there were songs and speeches, and danoin' light

ond gay . . , Around the flamin' bonfires that Eight in ould

Loajhrea. Now all you soot of Erin, wherever you may be, Corco join in cslebratSn' thi* glorious victoree; Aml by Columbia's rivers, and 'midst Canadian pines. Give three cheers for the Land Lesgue, and nine for Murty Hynes. The recent effusions of Mr Snllivan are, from the circumstances of the time, devoted in great part to the land question. A few years ago the Lord Mayor composed some verses with a chorus demanding " Griffith's valuation-." It found its way into the sheets of the ballad-singers, and may be heard even to-day at some of the fairs, but of course the song is out of date, and has been superseded among the Nationalists by another called " Low Rent or No Rent"— a phrase which has taken root in agricultural Ireland almost as deeply as Mr Morley's "Mended or Ended" did in England during the Reform Bill agitation against! the Peers. These new verses of Mr Sullivan's acknowledge that a partial fall in rents reunited from the action of the Land Courts, but tbey lay it down that " fair rents then are foul rents now, and cari't be paid at all."

So landlords and grand lords, Go grumble as you may— A low rent or no rent Ii all the rent well pay. At the Nationalist demonstrations in Irelaud now the motto "Low rent or no rent" almost invariably figures on one or more of the green banners displayed. "The J.P." has attained, I am told, a great measure of popularity. It describes the conversational encounter of a Nationalist returning from a League meeting and a local magistrate. It should be explained that the magistrate is of course a landowner. It is a grievance with the people that the administration of local justice is so exclusively in the hands of the class with whom they are at war, and that even the unpopular land agent is commonly made a J.P. One of this class is supposed to open the conversation:

" Your League has the kick of the ball," says he, " You're driving us fast to the wall," says he.

"And now, as things go, Wo are wanting to know, V. ill you leave us a ha'porth at all ?" says he. 'Tvfas veiy amusing to hear him, boys; For it «s«d to bs hard to come near him, boys, He wis cock o' the walk, And sa bisr was fcis talk That he thought the whole country should fear him, bnys. ' You nef dn't take quite such a fright," s»ys I, '■ The people will do what is right," says I; " And yiur class cannot say That tuch is their way, For lhc>'/s robbing us morning and night," says L Oh, then, you ahonld look at him, staring, boys, And notice his weather eye glaring, boys,

While be eecmed well inclined, For the aise of his mind, 'to indulge in a stiff bit of swearing, boys. " "Tis treason your talking, my boy," says he; " The Udioii you want to destroy," says he; " And you'd better look ou', Or 1 haven't a doubt, That you'll ses the inside of Mountjoy," says he,

I stni'cd at him very sedately, boys; I drew up tny figure quite stately, boys; And the'truths that I told, Both the newand the old. Seemed to bother the hayro eomplately, boys. " Sure Crorrlwell was here before you," says I; " And Korster tried what he could do," says I; "Arid Ticvelvan and Co. Had to bundle aud jro From the land they could never subdue," says I. He turned on his heel to be leaving:, boys; His bosom wi. hj ar.ger was beavlngr, boys;

He th«n gave a moan, And a start, and a groan, And he settled to eighiug and grieving, boys. " My days of enjoyment are o'er," says he; " I'll quit this tui.-forthunate shore," says he; " I'll live intlw gloom Of a London bick room, Ar.d I'll Dover come back any more," says he.

And so on. The course of politics in this country as affecting Ireland is in this way all preserved in the form of song in Ireland. The all night sittings were early enshrined in verse and set to a lively tnne, with the chorus—

Oh, those all.r.ighi eittinas were a sight to see, M wo carried ou tfce mu9ic till the morning.

One of the verses of tnis song runs as follows :

Stiff and straight when the fwht began Was the grand oltl collar tf the Grand Old Man, But it seemed.to have been fashioned upon quite another p'an V. hen he It ft the House of Commons in the morning The Speaker is described aa shaking with fright aa he chanced to cast his eyes in the direction of the lobby, and

Saw Joseph GHms Biggar with a big Blue-book Coming in to give him readings till the morning. Thus it was when the British Parliament was suffering from the very aeonies of obstruction that its Bufferings were made a theme of merriment in the country that declined to respect the laws that were clothed for it in a foreign garb.