| (Ned of the Hill) Version 1 Play/Download Music File John Renfro Davis |
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| This song appears in a book by Sidney Owenson (circa 1805). It was sung earlier (1778) in Gaelic at a concert in Dublin.
According to Digital Tradition Edmund Ryan was an Irish earl displaced by Cromwell after the Battle of the Boyne who stayed in Ireland to fight the British. In the tune he takes shelter with an old girlfriend. Later a neighbor - while giving him shelter killed him for the reward. However, the reward had been withdrawn after Edmund had done an Englishman a service.
The only problem with this is that William of Orange was the English leader at the Battle of the Boyne. Cromwell was in Ireland earlier. For another version of the lyrics see Ned of of the Hill (2). See below for related links to figure out the chronology! |
Oh who is without That with passionate shout Keeps beating my bolted door?" "I am Ned of the Hill Forspent wet and chill From long trudging marsh and moor" "My love, fond and true What else could I do But shield you From wind and from weather? When the shots fall like hail They us both shall assail And mayhap we shall die together." "Through forest and through snow Tired and hunted I go In fear both From friend and from neighbor My horses run wild My acres untilled And they all of them lost to my labor But it grieves me far more Than the loss of my store That there's none who would shield me from danger So my fate it must be To fare eastward o'er sea And languish amid the stranger" |
Related Links
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| Information and Lyrics From
Digital Tradition Mudcat Discussion Cafe Discussion Group And Bruce Olsen's Roots of Folk: Old English, Scots, and Irish Songs and Tunes |
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