Evanston: Carrighfergus
Evanston: Carrighfergus
I started to write that I have a disproportionate amount of Irish music, particularly since my ancestry, save for an errant Viking, was English, but really the only thing disproportionate is the amount of music and poetry such a small population has created. The number of people in the Republic of Ireland now is about the same as that of New Zealand--just over four million. In 1841 just before the Great Famine, it was 50% greater.
A good many those driven out of Ireland by poverty survived here and in other countries; but still it is a lot of music I like to come from only a few people.
If at the moment I was compelled to name one favorite song, it would be the traditional Irish ballad, “Carrighfergus,” (often spelled ‘Carrichfergus’).
I have three different versions of the song.
One is by a young woman with a beautiful clear voice, Lisa Kelly. Her ‘Carrichfergus’ is lovely. I enjoy listening to it. But it lacks depth, and some of the essential lyrics have been eliminated. “I’m drunk today, but I’m seldom sober.” Carrighferfus is the lament of a world-weary, dying man, who longs for a vanished past and unreachable love. Pretty isn’t enough; though I enjoy and recommend the album from which it comes, CELTIC WOMAN PRESENTS: LISA KELLY.
The Dubliners have a good six minute long version of ‘Carrickfergus’, unbowdlerized and sung with a fine tenor voice. I expect this appears on more than one of their many albums, mine is from THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION: THE DUBLINERS--SPIRIT OF THE IRISH. Were it not for Lorenna McKennitt and Cedric Smith, I’d think this one entirely satisfactory.
I’ve written before about Lorenna McKennitt, a Canadian of Irish and Scotch extraction. Hers is true world music, blending sounds of her ancestry and those of the Middle East. Sometimes I have difficulty in understanding her lyrics, but that is because they are so subtle and unsuspected. She has effectively put both William Butler Yeats and Shakespeare to music. Fortunately the lyrics can be found on her website: http://www.quinlanroad.com/homepage/index.asp.
Her arrangement of ‘Carrighfergus’ comes from her very first album, ELEMENTAL, and is sung by Cedric Smith. Mr. Smith was born in England, but his family moved to Canada when he was a child. He dropped out of school to become a folk singer and was a member of a group known as Perth County Conspiracy. As far as I can determine, he stopped singing and found success as an actor on Canadian television. I can’t find anything else he recorded. If I could, I would buy it.
When Cedric Smith sings ‘Carrighfergus’ every word and every note resonates within me. His timing and tone are perfect.
Here are the lyrics;
I wish I was in Carrighfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrant
I would swim over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrant.
But the sea is wide, and I can't swim over
Neither have I wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die.
Now in Kilkenny, it is reported
They've marble stones there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would transport her
But I'll sing no more now, till I get a drink
I'm drunk today, but I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah, but I am sick now, my days are over
Come all you young lads and lay me down.
I wish I was in Carrighfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrant.
You can hear the first part of the song at: http://www.quinlanroad.com/explorethemusic/elemental.asp?id=54
The song and album are available from iTunes.
Friday, November 14, 2008