"My Lagan Love"
Lyrics by Joseph Campbell (AKA Seosamh MacCathmhaoil)
Tune collected by Herbert Hughes, aka Padraig Mac Aodh O'Neill)
In 1904 Herbert Hughes collected a traditional air from the remote parts of County Donegal.
While on holidays in Donegal, Hughes had learned the air from Proinseas mac Suibhne, who had learned it from his father Seaghan mac Suibhne, who in turn had learned it fifty years previously.
With lyrics credited to Joseph Campbell the song "My Lagan Love" was published in 1904 on page 32 of "Songs of Uladh"
Hughes' preface says: "I made this collection while on holiday in North Dun-na-n Gall (Donegal) in August of last year."
My Lagan Love is on page 32. The note says, "I got this from Proinseas mac Suibhne who played it for me on the fidil. He had it from his father Seaghan mac Suibhne, who learned it from a sapper working on the Ordnance Survey in Tearmann about fifty years ago. It was sung to a ballad called the "Belfast Maid", now forgotten in Cill-mac-nEnain".
A song by the title "Belfast Maid" was published in various early 19th century broadsides, with the first lines "In Belfast town of high renown / There lives a comely maid".
This ballad now has Roud number 2930. SEE: Belfast Maid
In the 1904 publication "My Lagan Love" had 5 verses:
1) Where Lagan stream sings lullaby
There blooms a lily fair
The twilight-gleam is in her eye
The night is on her hair
And like a love-sick leanan-sidhe
She hath my heart in thrall
Nor life I owe nor liberty
For love is lord of all.
2) Her father sails a running-barge
'Twixt Leamh-beag and The Druim;
And on the lonely river-marge
She elears his hearth for him.
When she was only fairy-high
Her gentle mother died;
But dew-Love keeps her memory
Green on the Lagan side.
3) And oft-times, when the beetle's horn
Hath lulled the eve to sleep
I steal unto her shieling lorn
And thro' the dooring peep.
There on the cricket's singing stone,
She spares the bogwood fire,
And hums in sad sweet under-tone
The song of heart's desire
4) Her welcome, like her love for me,
Is from her heart within:
Her warm kiss is felicity
That knows no taint of sin.
And, when I stir my foot to go,
'Tis leaving Love and light
To feel the wind of longing blow
From out the dark of night.
5) Where Lagan stream sings lullaby
There blooms a lily fair
The twilight-gleam is in her eye
The night is on her hair
And like a love-sick leanan-sidhe
She hath my heart in thrall
Nor life I owe nor liberty
For love is lord of all.
In Scottish Gaelic a "leannan-sidhe" is a Faery Lover. This type of Faery Lover often takes a person's love and then leaves. He or she goes back where they came from (Faery Land?) leaving the human pining for their lost love. The poor mortals in the tales of leannan sidhe often died of sorrow.
NB: This faery lover theme is also reminiscent to the theme used in another Irish traditional song, which also has a similar tune: "She Moved Through The Fair".
(SEE FURTHER ON IN THIS TOPIC)
In 1905 Hamilton Harty made a new arrangement of "My Lagan Love", which was published by Boosey & Hawkes in "Three Traditional Ulster Airs".
This new arrangement only contained verses 1 and 3 of the original 5 verses.
The song was dedicated to Plunket Greene, who often sang it on recitals.
Other singers who performed the song were Campbell McInnes, Agnes Nicholls and John McCormack.
In 1910 "My Lagan Love", with the Hamilton Harty-arrangement, was recorded by John McCormack.
(c) John McCormack (1910) (as "My Lagan Love")
Recorded March 25, 1910 in New York
Released on Victor 64154
Or here:
In 1909 the traditional tune used in "My Lagan Love" was adapted by Herbert Hughes to write another classic song: "She Moved Thro' The Fair"
This time the lyrics were written by Padraic Colum, who was more than familiar with the lyricist of "My Lagan Love": Joseph Campbell.
Roud #861 : http://www.vwml.org/roudnumber/861
"She Moved Thro' The Fair" is fundamentally the same song as "My Lagan Love" (except for a lovely chord change in the B figure of Lagan)
Herbert Hughes apparently used the same traditional tune "Belfast Maid" from the County of Donegal to arrange it for two seperate songs: "My Lagan Lovë" (1904) and "She Moved Thro' The Fair" (1909)
NB: In 1989 the Simple Minds used part of the tune for their song "Belfast Child", maybe referring to this traditional tune from County Donegal ("Belfast Maid") ?
(SEE FURTHER ON IN THIS TOPIC)
"She Moved Thro' The Fair"
Lyrics by Padraic Colum
Tune collected by Herbert Hughes, aka Padraig Mac Aodh O'Neill)
In a letter published in the Irish Times, 22 April 1970, Padraic Colum, claiming he was the author of all but the final verse of the poem, described how Hughes collected the tune and he, Colum kept the last verse of a traditional song they heard and then composed a couple of verses to fit the music. One verse (the 3rd) was not included in the first publication of the collection published by Boosey & Hawkes in London in a work entitled Irish Country Songs in 1909
My young love said to me "My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you for your lack of kind"
And she stepp'd away from me and this she did say
"It will not be long, love, till our wedding-day"
She stepp'd away from me and she went thro' the fair
And fondly I watch'd her move here and move there
And then she went homeward, with one star awake
As the swan in the evening moves over the lake
Last night she came to me, she came softly in
So softly she came that her feet made no din
And she laid her hand on me and this she did say
"It will not be long, love, till our wedding-day"
The lyrics of "She Moved Through The fair" are often shortened by omitting the third verse (SEE PIC BELOW), as this verse was the one Colum wrote after the first three verses had been sent for publication and it had to await a later edition for publication (Colum's 1916 collection "Wild Earth: And Other Poems")
The first recorded version of "She Moved Thro' The Fair" I could find is by Father Sydney MacEwan.
(o) Sydney MacEwan (1936) (as "She Moved Thro’ The Fair")
(County Donegal) (trad. arr. Herbert Hughes)
Tenor with Duncan Morrison, piano
Recorded in London on March 18, 1936
Released on Parlophone DIP 146 (Ireland) and R-2311 (England)
Also released in Ireland on His Master's Voice I.P. 316
Or here:
(c) Michael O'Higgins (1937) (as "She Moved Thro' the Fair")
Recorded May 5, 1937 in Dublin
Released on His Master's Voice IM 358
(c) Jack (John) Feeney (1937) (as "She Moved Thru The Fair")
with Helen Mechant (piano)
Recorded June 23, 1937 in New York City
Matrix 62308
Released on Decca 12121A
(c) John McCormack (1941) (as "She Moved Thro' The Fair")
With Gerald Moore (piano)
Recorded June 25, 1941, Studio 3, Abbey Road, London.
Released on HMV DA 1813 (UK)
Also released on HMV IR 231 (Ireland)
(c) Sean McDonagh (1951) (as "My Lagan Love" AND as "She Went Through The Fair")
On February 7, 1951 Alan Lomax was in a pub in Kilnaleck (County Cavan), North-East Ireland, where he recorded Sean McDonagh singing the two similar songs:
"My Lagan Love"
And "She Went Through The Fair"
(c) Margaret Barry (1952 and 1953) (as "My Lagan Love" AND as "She Moves Through The Fair")
On July 26, 1952 Peter Kennedy was in Dundalk, where in the Imperial Hotel he recorded Margaret Barry singing both "My Lagan Love" and "She Moves Through The Fair".
On November 1 and 3, 1953 Alan Lomax was in London, where in his own flat he recorded Margaret Barry singing the 2 similar songs:
"My Lagan Love"
And "She Moves Through The Fair"
Three versions of both songs sung by Margaret Barry, recorded by Peter Kennedy in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, in 1952 and by Alan Lomax in London in 1953 are on her 1998 Rounder anthology I Sang Through the Fairs.
Margaret Barry sang She Moves Through the Fair in an Ewan MacColl recording from March 10, 1955 on her 1956 Riverside album Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady.
Most subsequent versions of She Moves Through the Fair seem to be derived from Margaret Barry's which also had introduced the change from "my young love" to "my dead love" in the last verse.
(c) Susan Reed (1954) (as "He Moved Through The Fair")
Released in 1954 on 10" album "Susan Reed Sings Old Airs (From Ireland Scotland And England)" (Elektra EKL 26)
Re-released in 1961 on Elektra EKL 126
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Pete Seeger (1956) (as "She Moves Through the Fair")
Released in 1956 on his album Love Songs for Friends and Foes
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Dominic Behan (1958) (as "She Moves Through the Fair")
Dominic Behan sang She Moves Through the Fair in 1958 on his Topic album Irish Songs.
(c) Anne Briggs (1963) (as "She Moves Through the Fair")
A 19 years young Anne Briggs sang She Moves Through the Fair at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963 where it was recorded by Bill Leader for the album Edinburgh Folk Festival Vol. 1.
(c) Odetta (1963) (as "She Moved Through the Fair")
Released in 1963 on the album "One Grain Of Sand" (Vanguard VRS9137)
“One Grain Of Sand” finds her singing and playing guitar with accompaniment by Bill Lee (Spike Lee’s father, who also was responsible for the music in his son’s movie Mo’ Better Blues) on string bass.
Listen here:
(c) Marianne Faithfull (1966) (as "She Moved Through the Fair")
On her album North Country Maid
Faithfull re-recorded the song for her 1990 album Blazing Away, and has often sung it in concert.
Listen here:
(c) Pete Seeger (1966) (as "The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood")
In 1966 Richard Fariña wrote a poem, which he set to the tune of "My Lagan Love".
But before an official version could be recorded, Richard died in a motorcycle crash on April 30, 1966 - his wife Mimi's twenty-first birtday.
Pete Seeger was the first one to record this song for his album "God Bless The Grass".
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Davey Graham (1967) (as "She Moved Through The Bizarre/Blue Ragga")
Davey Graham recorded “She Moved Thru the Bizarre,” a unique guitar arrangement of the traditional Irish song “She Moved Through the Fair.”
Graham’s version was a complex instrumental piece based loosely on the original that incorporated Indian influences.
Listen here:
(c) Yardbirds (1967) (as "White Summer")
Jimmy Page took Davey Graham's arrangement of "She Moved Through The Bizarre/Blue Ragga" nearly completely, renamed it “White Summer” and laid it on the Yardbirds 1967 album Little Games.
Listen here:
(c) Led Zeppelin (1969) (as "White Summer")
In 1969 Jimmy Page's group Led Zeppelin also recorded "White Summer".
A live performance during the band's U.K. Tour of Summer 1969 was recorded by the BBC at the Playhouse Theatre in London on 27 June 1969 for the pilot of Radio One's In Concert series.
This recording was released in 1990 on the Led Zeppelin Boxed Set with the combined title "White Summer/Black Mountain Side". The piece was later included as a bonus track on the 1993 boxed set The Complete Studio Recordings.
Listen here:
(c) Sandy Denny recorded "She Moves Through the Fair" in 1967 as a home demo that was finally made available in 2004 on the 5CD Fledg'ling anthology A Boxful of Treasures.
In 1969 Fairport Convention also released the song on What We Did on Our Holidays. .
Fairport Convention adopted the style of the song from the influential travelling singer Margaret Barry, while Margaret on her turn had learned it from a vinyl recording made by John McCormack at EMI Studios in 1941.
Listen here:
(c) Fairport Convention (1969) (as "The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood")
Out-take from Fairport Convention's Liege and Lief sessions at the Sound Techniques Studios in Summer 1969, finally appearing on the 2002 CD reissue of Liege and Lief (Take 1).
Listen here:
Sandy re-recorded the song in 1972 for her Sandy album, singing the song unaccompanied with just her vocals multi-tracked (and achieving some very interesting effects).
Listen here:
(c) Trees (1970) (as "She Moved Thro' the Fair")
On their album The Garden of Jane Delawney
Listen here:
(c) Art Garfunkel (1977) (as "She Moved Through the Fair")
On his album Watermark
Listen here:
'My Lagan Love' was recorded with new, original lyrics by Kate Bush, first released in 1985 as the second B-side track to the 12" version of Cloudbusting.
Listen here:
(c) All About Eve (1988) (as "She Moves Through the Fair")
On their eponymous 1988 debut album.
Listen here:
(c) Van Morrison and the Chieftains (1988)
On their album Irish Heartbeat , Van Morrison and the Chieftains recorded both "My Lagan Love" and "She Moved through the Fair".
(c) Simple Minds (1989) (intro and outro of "Belfast Child")
As I said above in 1989 the Simple Minds used part of the tune for their song "Belfast Child", maybe referring to the traditional title of the tune from County Donegal ("Belfast Maid") ?
So the title "Belfast Child" nearly matches the title of the original ballad it was sung to: "Belfast Maid"
SEE: http://digital.library.villanova.edu/files/vudl:312624/LARGE (click to zoom in)
(c) Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet (1994) (as "She Moved Through The Fair")
Listen here:
(c) Sinéad O'Connor (1995) (as "He Moved Through The Fair")
On The Chieftains' collaborative album The Long Black Veil
Listen here:
Sinead O'Connor also recorded a solo version for the soundtrack of the 1996 film Michael Collins.
Listen here:
And in 2002 Sinead O'Connor also recorded "My Lagan Love"
Listen here:
(c) Boyzone (1996) (as "She Moves Through the Fair")
On their album A Different Beat
(c) Mike Oldfield (1996) (as "She Moves Through the Fair")
On his album Voyager
(c) Charlotte Church (2000) (as "She Moved Through the Fair")
On her album Charlotte Church
(c) Rory Gallagher (2003) (as "She Moved Thro' The Fair")
Rory Gallagher, who was born in the County Donegal (where Herbert Hughes had collected the song some 100 years earlier), recorded a version with Bert Jansch released on Gallagher's album Wheels Within Wheels 2003.
Bert Jansch had already recorded a solo-version of "She Moved Through The Fair" for his 1988 album Toy Balloon.
In 2002 Bert Jansch also recorded the "The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood" variation, with his wife Loren on vocals
Listen here:
(c) Jefferson Starship (2008) (as "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood")
More versions here: