"The Foggy Dew"

The version we have is written in 'C' (Am?), but the instruments play it up a whole tone, and the guitar plays with Capo II. This helps to give it a lovely tenor voice that matches the soloist's soprano voice (Sue).

We play the first verse slowly, with just strums (use teeth) on the beat for the guitar. The second is played faster. Then we play a verse with lyrics, and then a recorder verse. The recorder is then dropped in favor of the Bodhran. The final line (4 bars) is repeated, slowly.

This is the title of several tunes, all of UK heritage. The version that we do is in 'Am', and is the same as, or at least similar to, the one performed by Sinéad O'Connor with the Chieftains;

As down the glen one Easter morn to a city fair rode I,
There armed lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by.
No pipe did hum, no battle drum did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus' bells o'er the Liffey swells rang out in the foggy dew.

Right proudly high in Dublin town rung they out a flag of war.
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud el Bar.
And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through;
While Brittania's Huns with their long-range guns sailed in through the foggy dew.

The bravest fell, and the requiem bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Easter-tide in the springing of the year.
While the world did gaze with deep amaze at those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew.

And back through the glen I rode again and my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men whom I never shall see more
But to and fro in my dreams I go and I kneel and pray for you
For slavery fled oh, glorious dead when you fell in the foggy dew.

According to wikipedia the lyrics have been attributed to Peadar Kearney and to Canon Charles O'Neill, with no side providing better sources to actual authorship than the other. The song chronicles the Easter Uprising of 1916, and encourages Irishmen to fight for the cause of Ireland, rather than for the British, as so many young men were doing in World War I. The above lyrics were, apparently, abbreviated. Here, according to the Fiddler's Companion, are the full set;

'Twas down the glen one Eastern morn, to a city fair rode I
When Ireland's lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by.
No pipes did hum, no battle drum did sound its loud tattoo.
But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey's swell, rang out in the foggy dew

Right proudly high over Dublin town, they hung out a flag of war.
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud El Bar;
And from the plains of Royal Meath, strong men came hurrying through,
While Brittanias's huns, with their long range guns, sailed in from the foggy dew.

O, the night fell black and the rifles crack made "Perfidious Abion" reel
'Mid the leaden rail, seven tongues of flame did shine o'er the lines of steel
By each shining blade a prayer was said that to Ireland her sons be true,
and when morning broke still the war flag shook out its fold in the foggy dew

'Twas England bade our Wild Geese go that small nations might be free.
But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves, on the fringe of the Grey North sea
But had they died by Pearse's side, or had fought with Cathal Brugha,
Their names we would keep where the fenians sleep, 'neath the shroud of the foggy dew.

But the bravest fell, and the requiem bell, rang mournfully and clear,
for those who died that Eastertide in the springtime of the year.
And the world did gaze, in deep amaze, at those fearless men, but true
who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew

Ah, back through the glen I rode again and my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men whom I never shall se more
but to and fro in my dreams I go, and I'd kneel and pray for you,
for slavery fled, O glorious dead, when you fell in the foggy dew.

The tune is an Irish March or Air. The Fiddler's Companion says that 'Flood (1915) states the air is "certainly" as old as the year 1595'.