Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore (Collected by Sam Henry)

#733: YouTube video by bodhrannf ©2009
~ Used with permission ~

We sailed away from Derry quay on the twenty-third of May,
In a pleasant gale we set sail all bound for Amerikay;
Fresh water aplenty we took on, five hundred gallons or more,
In case we'd run short going to New York from Paddy's green shamrock shore.

So fare thee well, sweet Liza dear and likewise Derry town,
And twice farewell to me comrade boys who dwell on that sainted ground;
If ever I make my fortune here and I have money in store,
I'll return and I'll wed the sweet lassie I left on Paddy's green shamrock shore.

We sailed three days, we were all seasick, and no one on board was free,
Confined unto our bunks were we and no one to pity poor me;
No father kind nor mother dear to ease our hearts when sore,
Which made me think long on the friends I left on Paddy's green shamrock shore.

We landed safe on the other side in three and thirty days,
We shook each other by the hand and went our separate ways;
So each of us drank a parting glass in case we should never meet more,
Which made me think long of the lassie I left on Paddy's green shamrock shore.

####.... Author unknown. Variant of The Shamrock Shore [H192] collected by Sam Henry of Sandelford, Coleraine, Ireland [1870-1952] and published in Songs Of The People (1923-1939) Sam Henry Collection, pp.101-102, Belfast Public Library, 1938 ....####

This variant based on an arrangement by Paul Brady and Andy Irvine (Welcome Here Kind Stranger, trk#9, 1978, Mulligan Records, Dublin); and (The Liberty Tapes, trk#1, 2001, which were recorded live by Brian Masterson in 1978 and mastered in 2001 by Aidan Foley, Windmill Lane Master Labs, Dublin).

The YouTube video above features an excellent cover performance by Stephen Rowe of Heart's Content and Gander, NL.

A variant was arranged by Tony Quinn and Denis Ryan, and recorded by Denis Ryan (Mist Covered Mountains, trk#1, 1991, produced by Tony Quinn and recorded at Studio H, CBC Halifax, Nova Scotia); and (Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary's, trk#8, 2005, Independent, distributed in Halifax by Denis Ryan and in Portugal Cove-St.Phillips, NL by Landwash Distribution Co).

The YouTube video below features a 12-string guitar performance of a variant by Tony Archibald from Port St. Mary on the Isle of Man.

#347: YouTube video by threelegsoman ©2009
~ Used with permission ~

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