IRELAND’S EMBLEM

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 February 1935, Page 2

IRELAND’S EMBLEM

DECLINE OF THE SHAMROCK For a hundred years and more “The Dear Little Shamrock” was a favourite song at Irish concerts the world over. Now-a-days one rarerly hears it. That the song ha,s not lost its power to charm was amply demonstrated recently at a Sydney cinema theatre where, with a number of Moore s famous melodies, it was introduced to give atmosphere and verisimilitude to an Irish play produced in an English studio (writes D. J. Quinn, in the “Svdnev Morning Herald”). Many of those who heard it sung have probably wondered at the neglect which has overtaken it. The explanation, alas, makes sad reading. Like the “historical” blacksmith of Gretna Green and many another cherished legend, the shamrock as the national emblem of Ireland has been “debunked” by the Nosey Parkers of modern research. The 'story of St. Patrick plucking a shamrock to illustrate to the pagan Irish rulers the mystery of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is seemingly a myth. The early lives of the Saint make no mention of the incident, and among the ancient relics, where one would expect to find some allusion to it, the shamrock is conspicuously absent. How the legend arose the quidnuncs themselves have no certain knowledge. They think it probable that it originated in the fact that in early times the trefoil was looked upon as a sacred plant. They tell us that Shamrakh is Arabic, that the trefoil or three-lobed leaf wa sa symbol more ancient and more widely spread than Christianity, that the Deity was generally conceived as Three-fold, and that in the ruined temples of both East and West, the trefoil emblem is abundant. Further more, they recall that Pliny, the elder, speaks of the supposed efficacy of the trefoil in curing those suffering from the bites of noxious beasts, and of the belief that no serpent would touch it. Putting two and two together, therefore, we have a possible explanation of how St. Patrick’s name came to be associated, not only with the shamrock, but also with the legendary banishment of snakes from Ireland. There is evidence that at one time Irish peasants held the shamrock in superstitious regard. In his “Traces of the Elder Faiths in Ireland,” AV. G. Wood-Martin cites various instances. A farmer who carried home a shamrock would expect all to go well with his cattle on May Day; To make sure of her lover’s safe return from a journey, a maiden would slip a shamrock, into one of his shoes without his knowledge. Anyone carrying a shamrock on his person would be able to detect the presence of evil spirits. Gathered with a gloved hand and secretly brought into a house where there was a lunatic, it would cure madness. As for the four-leaved shamrock —a not uncommon freak in the clover family—the luck attending its finding w r as considered a safeguard against every imaginable sorrow and misfortune. Often as a boy the present writer, in the mood of Samuel Lover, sought for and found a foxir-leaved shamrock. I’ll seek a four-leaved shamrock in all the fairy dells, And if I find its charmed leaves, oh how I’ll weave my spells! I would not waste my magic might on diamond, pearl or gold, For treasure tires my weary sense — such triumph is but cold.

On St. Patrick’s Day, following King Edw-ard’s accession to the throne in 1901, Covent Garden sent him a fourleaved shamrock for luck! Not long afterwards the British Government, in recognition of the gallantry displayed by Irish regiments in the South African war, gave permission to all Irish soldiers to wear a sprig of shamrock on the Saint’s anniversary. That w-as a time when Irishmen at home and abroad w-ere proud to wear the .shamrock, when packets of the treasured trefoil w-ere despatched annually from Ireland to all parts of the earth. For, of course, the shamrock, to be real, had to come from Ireland. During many decades widely divergent views prevailed as to w-hich of several varieties of trefoil plants w-as the true shamrock. It is doubtful if the botanical experts ever reached agreement on the question. White and red clover, black medick, w-ood sorrel, w-ater cress, have all been claimants for the honour, but the plant most frequently worn w-as th'e Trifolium minus, w-ith another species of clover, the Trifolium repens, as a close runner-up.

The decline of the shamrock as a national emblem dates from the establishment of the Irish Free State. Each year has seen a diminution in its use. Commenting on this fact, the Dublin correspondent of a London paper wrote: “Almost a knock-out blow- was dealt to the shamrock w-hen the Irish Free State Government refused to countenance it on the coins or postage stamps. According to the Ministry of Finance, the shamrock has no dignity of age behind it, being not more than a hundred years old. Recent researches into Irish history prove that he is right, and that the shamrock is largely a sham.”

While it is true that the Free State Government features the harp as a national emblem, the shamrock has not been altogether ignored. The writer has in his possession a postage stamp on which a miniature trefoil appears in each of (he upper corners. The statement as to the shamrock’s age also calls for disqualification. In 1681, Dineley, in his journal, makes reference to St. Patrick’s Day “when the vulgar superstitiously wear sham-rock—three-leaved grass.” Not only did the Irish wear the

shamrock in honqur of their patron saint; there was also a tim.e when necessity compelled them to cat. it. The secretary of Queen Elizabeth’s lord deputy Mountjoy, writing of the diet of the “wild Irish.” says: “Thc-y willingly eat the heib shamrock, being of a sharp taste, which as they run and are chased to and fro they inarch like beasts out of ditches.’’ In later tim.es, “drowning’’ the shamrock on St. Patrick's Day was an honoured custom. A writer in 1726 remarks: “When they wet their Seainar-age they often commit excess in liquor, which is not the right keeping of a. day to the Lord.”

I’oets have played (heir pari in popularising (he shamrock. .Moore’s verses (o the “Chosen leaf of Bard and Chief, Old Erin’s native shap.irock” are well known. But the most widely known song 01 all is Andrew Cherry’s “The Green Little Shamrock of Ireland,” commonly entitled to-dav, “The Dear Little Shamrock.’ Cherry's song with music by Shield, was sung in’ Dublin in 1806. and proved an instant, success. Cherry, who had a reputation as a playwright, quitted the Dublin stage owing to a difference with the manager of the Opera House. Latei. when he had achieved success at Drury-lanc. London, the Dublin manager made overtures for another on gagement. Cherry’s reply was not

lacking in humour. “Sir.’’ he wrote. “I am not so great a fool as you take me for. I have been bitten once by you, and will never give you an opportunity of making two bites of —A Cherry.”