Author Archives: Brian

10 Feb

The Wexford Girl

Oh my name is Edward Gallivan, in Wexford I was born,
For the murder of Mary Reilly I die in public scorn,
It is of a beautiful fair one who might have been my wife,
But for the sake of curs-ed gold I took away her life.

When first I kept her company her friends did on me frown,
And by her hard indust-o-ry she saved twenty pounds,
She believed my false vows but I led her quite astray,
Saying, “My dear we will sail without delay unto Americay.”

Oh those words that she had said to me would grieve your heart full sore,
Before that I had murdered her and left her in her gore,
She said, “Dear James here are my keys and in my box you will find
An order on the savings bank for the sum of twenty pounds.”

“Your money it will take me unto some foreign shore,”
I then gave her a deadly blow, I need not say no more,
With a loaded whip I murdered her, her body I concealed,
Her blood it cried for vengeance, the murder soon revealed.

Oh I was apprehended, as you may plainly see,
May the Lord look to my sinful soul, give me some time to pray,
The judge he made me answer, “You gave no time to pray,
To that innocent young creature whose life you took away.”

Oh, now my song is ended, I mean to drop my pen,
I hope my fate a warning will be to every young man,
I hope my fate a warning to young and old may be,
To shun drinking and night walking and keep good company.

We have another song from the masterful voice of New Brunswick singer Angelo Dornan this month. There is a fairly well-travelled ballad also called “The Wexford Girl” that song scholar Robert Waltz and others have recognized to be a separate story than this grim murder ballad. In Dornan’s song, the man lament’s his horrific crime that resulted from his greed for money.

The above is my own transcription of Dornan’s singing which is now available to hear via the Nova Scotia Archives site. After singing the text above, Dornan added this half verse implicating Satan himself:

I had not gone one mile with her until Satan tempted me
For to rob her of her money and then her butcher be.

As usual with Dornan, it’s his beautiful singing and the enticing little twists and turns of his fluid version that draw me to this otherwise very dreary song!

10 Jan

Why Don’t My Father’s Ship Come In?

It was on a Christmas evening as I lay down to sleep,
I heard a boy of six years old on his mother’s knee did weep,
Saying “once I had a father dear who did me kind embrace
And if he was here, he would dry those tears flowing down my mother’s face”

Oh where is that tall and gallant ship that first bore him away,
With topsails soft and painted decks born by the breeze away,
While other ships are coming in splitting the icy foam,
Oh why don’t my father’s ship come in, and why don’t he come home?

Oh, dear son, your father has tarried for to cross the stormy sea,
The ocean and the hurricane sweeps he’ll never come back to me,
Dear son your father’s dead and gone to the home of the brave,
The stormy ocean and winter winds sweep o’er your father’s grave

Oh well I do remember when he took me on his knee,
And gave me all the fruits he bore from off that India tree,
He said six months he would be gone and here leave us alone,
But by those stormy winter winds, twelve months are past and gone.

Oh hush my darling little son your innocent life is done,
Now you and I are all that’s left for to lament and mourn,
You are the darling of my heart I will press you to my side,
And they rose their eyes to heaven and the son and mother died.

We return to Beaver Island, Michigan this month for a song from the repertoire of singer Johnny Green recorded by Alan Lomax during his 1938 visit to the island.

This dark and sorrowful lament for a father lost at sea appears in several collections across the north woods from the Canadian Maritimes to Ontario. Lomax’s recording of John Green is accessible via the Library of Congress website under the title (probably resulting from a mishearing of the first line) “Christmas Eve.”

Anita Best and Genevieve Lehr printed a version from Annie Green of Newfoundland in their book Come & I Will Sing You. Annie Green closed the song this way:

“My boy you’re the pride of all my heart,” as she pressed him to her breast,
And closed her eyes to the yonder skies where the weary ones find rest.

10 Dec

Come All Ye Old Comrades

Come all ye old comrades, come now let us join,
And lend your sweet voices in chorus with mine,
We’ll drink and be merry, all sorrow refrain,
We may and may never all meet here again.

The time is fast approaching when I must away,
To leave my own country for many a long day,
To leave my old comrades so kind and so dear,
I to the Indies my course I must steer.


Fare thee well, I have a mother by the great powers above,
May she always be honored, respected and loved,
I will always respect her by land or by sea,
I’ll ever remember her kindness to me.

Fare thee well, I have a sweetheart whom I dearly love well,
There are none in this country who can her excel,
She smiles at my folly and she sits on my knee,
There’s few in this wide world as happy as we.

Adieu my old comrades, adieu and farewell,
Whether we’ll ever meet again there is no tongue can tell,
We will trust to his mercy who can sink or can save,
To bring me safe over yon proud stormy wave.

We have another song recorded in the Canadian Maritimes by Helen Creighton this month.  Many readers will be familiar with Irish or Scottish versions of “Here’s a Health to the Company” aka “Kind Friends and Companions.” It is a well-loved song to close out a night of singing, complete with sing-along chorus.

The above variant, which has no chorus, comes from the singing of Catherine Marion Scott Gallagher (Mrs. Edward Gallagher in Creighton’s notes) who lived at the Chebucto Head lighthouse south east of Halifax, Nova Scotia and was recorded by Creighton in 1949. You can hear Gallagher sing “Come All Ye Old Comrades” on the Nova Scotia Archives website.

Creighton printed another Nova Scotia variant of the song in the book Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia but, as far as I can tell, the beautiful Gallagher version was not published until the release of this online archive. Gallagher’s phrasing on the recording is really nice and worth a listen for anyone interested in learning this one. The text and melody are also fairly unique from Irish/Scottish versions I am aware of. A great North American version of a favorite song!

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