Simon Furey wrote:
>
> Steve Roud said:
>
> > If I can add to what Bruce Olson has already said, Georges-Denis
> > Zimmermann's Songs of Irish Rebellion states that it was written in 1830
> by
> > Jeremiah Ryan ('Darby Ryan') satirising the new police force 'introduced
> > into Ireland by Sir Robert Peel', and was extremely popular throughout
> > Ireland.
> > The original text had Bansha as the dwelling place, and there is clearly
> no
> > connection with Co. Durham in the song's known history. The question
> > therefore remains, where did the quoted text come from, because presumably
> > someone either mis-heard Bansha, or perhaps deliberately changed it to
> > Penshaw to localise the song.
> > Steve Roud
> >
>
> I think the localisation is quite likely. Perhaps the link is the migration
> of Irish people to England, especially as a result of the potato famine.
> Tyneside was a particularly popular destination; my own family is "Newcastle
> Irish" in origin. Penshaw is a reasonable localisation, since the name
> appears in the Lambton Worm, for example.
>
> Simon
Plausible, but we have not yet established that the Borderlands
recording is that of any text that existed earlier than that on the
recording.
If there's no information with a recorded version of a song as to
the source of the text (and tune), I do not take it to be any
published traditional, broadside, or songbook version. It may
well be such, but all too often a professional performer or group
alters the text (and/or tune), and searching for an earlier
source of that version then proves to be a great waste of time.
The 'Borderlands' text, and no other, is also in the Digital
Tradition song database at www.mudcat.org, but that collection is
a mixture of folk songs and 'fakesongs', with the latter, in my
opinion, predominating. [My modus operandi: If it's not
documented as a traditional song, it isn't.]
Bruce Olson
--
Old English, Irish and, Scots: popular songs, tunes, broadside
ballads at my website (no advs-spam, etc)- www.erols.com/olsonw
or click below <A href="http://www.erols.com/olsonw"> Click </a>
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