Bob n Along performs "Skibbereen" Irish traditional

Heres the brilliant soft spoken Scots folk allrounder Bob n Along performing a traditional Irish folk (famine) song. "Dear Old Skibbereen" the song is a sort of narrative of a father telling his son about the Irish famine and the tragic impact of British Government in Ireland of the 1840's.

Skibbereen, also known as Dear Old Skibbereen, is an Irish folk song, in the form of a dialogue wherein a father tells his son about the Irish famine, being evicted from their home, and the need to flee as a result of the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848

The first known publication of the song was in a 19th-century publication, The Irish Singer's Own Book (Noonan, Boston, 1880), where the song was attributed to Patrick Carpenter, a poet and native of Skibbereen.[2] It was published in 1915 by Herbert Hughes who wrote that it had been collected in County Tyrone, and that it was a traditional song.[3] It was recorded by John Avery Lomax from Irish immigrants in Michigan in the 1930s.

The son in the song asks his father why he left the village of Skibbereen, in County Cork, Ireland, to live in another country, to which the father tells him of the hardship he faced in his homeland. It ends on a vengeful note expressed by the son.

[edit] LyricsO, father dear I oftimes hear you speak of Erin's Isle
Her lofty scenes, her valleys green, her mountains rude and wild
They say it is a lovely land wherein a prince might dwell
So why did you abandon it, the reason to me tell
My son, I loved my native land with energy and pride
Till a blight came over all my crops and my sheep and cattle died
The rents and taxes were to pay and I could not them redeem
And that's the cruel reason why I left old Skibbereen
'Tis well I do remember that bleak November (/December) day
When the bailiff and the landlord came to drive us all away
They set the roof on fire with their cursed English spleen
And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen
Your mother, too, God rest her soul, lay on the snowy ground
She fainted in her anguishing seeing the desolation round
She never rose, but passed away from life to immortal dreams
And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen
Then sadly I recall the days of gloomy forty-eight.
I rose in vengeance with the boys to battle again' fate.
We were hunted through the mountains as traitors to the queen,
And that, my boy, is the reason why I left old Skibbereen.
Oh you were only two years old and feeble was your frame
I could not leave you with my friends for you bore your father's name
So I wrapped you in my cóta mór at the dead of night unseen
And I heaved a sigh and I said goodbye to dear old Skibereen
well father dear, the day will come when on vengeance we will call
And Irishmen both stout and tall will rally unto the call
I'll be the man to lead the van beneath the flag of green
And loud and high we'll raise the cry, "Revenge for Skibbereen!"
The song has been performed live and recorded by the Dubliners, Wolfe Tones and Sinéad O'Connor, as well as by many other contemporary Irish artists, .

Kind Regards

Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2011

Skibbereen...........
O, father dear I oftimes hear you speak of Erin's Isle
Her lofty scenes, her valleys green, her mountains rude and wild
They say it is a lovely land wherein a prince might dwell
So why did you abandon it, the reason to me tell
My son, I loved my native land with energy and pride
Till a blight came over all my crops and my sheep and cattle died
The rents and taxes were to pay and I could not them redeem
And that's the cruel reason why I left old Skibbereen
'Tis well I do remember that bleak November (/December) day
When the bailiff and the landlord came to drive us all away
They set the roof on fire with their cursed English spleen
And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen
Your mother, too, God rest her soul, lay on the snowy ground
She fainted in her anguishing seeing the desolation round
She never rose, but passed away from life to immortal dreams
And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen
Then sadly I recall the days of gloomy forty-eight.
I rose in vengeance with the boys to battle again' fate.
We were hunted through the mountains as traitors to the queen,
And that, my boy, is the reason why I left old Skibbereen.
Oh you were only two years old and feeble was your frame
I could not leave you with my friends for you bore your father's name
So I wrapped you in my cóta mór at the dead of night unseen
And I heaved a sigh and I said goodbye to dear old Skibereen
well father dear, the day will come when on vengeance we will call
And Irishmen both stout and tall will rally unto the call
I'll be the man to lead the van beneath the flag of green
And loud and high we'll raise the cry, "Revenge for Skibbereen!"

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