For Ireland I Won't Say Her Name

waltz

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on October 14th 2002 by cuchulain54.

This tune has been added to 205 tunebooks.

Also known as 'Ar Éirinn Ni 'Neosfainn Ce Hi, Abha Na Laoi, Ar Éireann Ní Neosfainn Cé Uí, Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí, Ar Eireann Ni Neosainn Ce Hi, Ar Eireann Ni Neosfainn Ce Ui, Ar �irinn N� Neosfainn C� H�, Ar Eirinn Ni NEosfinn Ce Hi, Buachaill On Eirne, Come By The Hills, For Ireland I Will Not Tell Her Name, For Ireland I Would Not Not Tell Her Name, For Ireland I Would Not Speak Her Name, For Ireland I Would Not Tell Her Name, For Ireland I'll Not Tell Her Name, For Ireland, I'd Not Tell Her Name, The River Lee, Tweed Side, Tweed-side, Tweedside.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

At The End Of The Day by Dervish
Before Dawn by Harmony Glen
Borrowed Days by Andrew And Margaret Watchorn
Champions Of Ireland: Mandolin by Marina Meyler
Classic Recordings Of The Irish Fiddle Legend by Paddy Reynolds
Cold In April by Mat Walklate
Far From Home by Boys Of The Lough
Fire In The Kitchen by The Chieftains
Folk Im Schlosshof 2009 Live by Various Artists
From Celtic Roots by Polkemmet Grorud Pipe Band
Haven't Yet Lost My Ears by Finvarra's Wren
Home by The Corrs
Irish Music by Sualtam
Live In Palma by Dervish
Live It Up by Reeltime
Mungrel Stuff by Concerto Caledonia
Na Fili 3 by Na Fili
Rolling Home by The Foundry Bar Band
Song Of The Chanter by Various Artists
Songs Of The Irish Whistle 2 by Joanie Madden
The Jig's Up by Anne-Marie O'Farrell
The Limestone Rock by Micho Russell
The Ragged Rogues by The Ragged Rogues
The Rare Old Times by Foggy Dew
The World Pipe Band Championships 2006 by Various Artists
They'll Be Good Yet by Kitty Hayes And Peter Laban
Traditional Irish Music From County Clare by Martin Vaughan
Trip To Harrogate by Canny Fettle
Tuned In by Johnny Murphy
Willie Clancy: The Gold Ring - CD 1 Of 2 by Willie Clancy

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

This is my first foray into abc notation...I got an error message before I finished, so I don't know why this showed up. I would've done the "dot" notation, too, but I don't know how to access that. Was there a form to fill out that I got booted off before I got to it?
Anyway, this is more of a slow air than a waltz, but it works nicely in waltz time. It's from the Boys of the Lough's "Recorded Live" album.

# Posted on October 14th 2002 by cuchulain54

I think the "D" in bar 12 should read as "d".

# Posted on October 14th 2002 by CreadurMawnOrganig

Yes, David is right. Actually Jeremy saved my butt on a number of errors I put in. Some (all?) of the dotted half-notes in the score are actually supposed to be 5 beats long -- I didn't know how to tie a note into the next measure. Still don't know my ABCs, I guess.

# Posted on October 16th 2002 by cuchulain54

Slow air

This is more properly a slow air - and the Irish name is
Ar Eireann ni neosainn a anam"

# Posted on January 1st 2004 by MollyB

Sorry

sorry, Irish name is "Ar Eireann ni neosainn ce hi"

# Posted on January 1st 2004 by MollyB

Buachaill On Eirne

Apparently "Buachaill On Eirne" means "Boy from Ireland" and is a different tune to this one. Also used as the tune for the song "Come By The Hills".

# Posted on April 16th 2004 by harry

does anyone know the lyrics to this song?
Emily

# Posted on April 25th 2004 by morganlefay15

Emily, on a CD of Sligo band Dervish you will hear the lovely singer Cathy Jordan singing this song: http://www.dervish.ie/day.htm
It's the most beautiful song as far as I know.

H.

# Posted on April 25th 2004 by slainte

STORY OF LYRIC

THIS IS ABOUT A PRIEST WHO FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIS BROTHERS WIFE !!

# Posted on August 25th 2005 by black

Dervish

Must agree with slainte about the Dervish version. Absolutely class - would make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck!

# Posted on September 13th 2006 by patstaunton

Focail

AR ÉIRINN NÍ N-EÓSAINN CÉ H-Í

Aréir is mé téarnamh um' neoin
Ar an dtaobh thall den teóra 'na mbím,
Do théarnaig an spéir-bhean im' chómhair
D'fhág taomanach breóite lag sinn.

Do ghéilleas dá méin is dá cló,
Dá béal tanaí beó mhilis binn,
Do léimeas fé dhéin dul 'na cómhair,
Is ar éirinn ní n-eósainn cé h-í.

Dá ngéilleadh an spéir-bhean dom' ghlór,
Siad ráidhte mo bheól a bheadh fíor;
Go deimhin duit go ndéanfainn a gnó
Do léirchur i gcóir is i gcrich.
Dó léighfinn go léir stair dom' stór,
'S ba mhéinn liom í thógaint dom chroí,
'S do bhearfainn an chraobh dhi ina dóid,
Is ar éirinn ní n-eósainn cé h-í.

Tá spéir-bhruinneal mhaordha dheas óg
Ar an taobh thall de'n teóra 'na mbím.
Tá féile 'gus daonnacht is meóin
Is deise ró mhór ins an mhnaoi,
Tá folt lei a' tuitim go feóir,
Go cocánach ómarach buí.
Tá lasadh 'na leacain mar rós,
Is ar éirinn ní n-eósainn cé h-í.

# Posted on December 16th 2009 by DonallDubh

i've just heard the high kings version of this song but i didn't knew the name in irish and i started asking myself which music was this, because i knew it.. now i've found. Bragi, what an amazing song.

# Posted on March 2nd 2010 by Mhc

The Lyrics

Could someone please give the lyrics in English?

# Posted on August 17th 2011 by an fidleir

The tune is said to have come from "Tweedside" or "Tweed Side", first printed in 1733:

(from Traditional music in Ireland By Tomás Ó Canainn, p.6)

[ One example of an air first published outside Ireland and absorbed into the Irish tradition may be of interest. It is the tune Tweedside', first published in the Orpheus Caledonius Collection in 1733... It was taken into the Irish tradition and combined with a text in Irish in praise of the river Lee, to give the well known 'Abha na Laoi' (The River Lee')... The tune is now better known as 'Ar Éirinn ní Neosfainn Cé Hí' ('For Ireland I would not tell her Name'), with its eighteenth-century text from the Maigue school of poets from Limerick... In this version the air, with its decorations, has been finally put into what traditional musicians of today would recognise as an acceptable Irish mould. ]

The tune to 'Tweedside' as it appears in Orpheus Caledonius:

X:1
T:Tweed Side
S:Orpheus Caledonius, 1733
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:A
cB|A2E2F2|A3B {AB}c2|B4cB|A2E2F2|A3B cB|
A4cB|A2E2F2|AG AB cd|B4AB|c2dc BA|B2cB AF|A4||
cd|e2dc BA|e2fe dc|B4cd|e2dc BA|AG AB cd|e4({fg}a2|
e2dc BA|e2fe dc|B4AB|c2dc BA|B2cB AF|A4|]

I've heard it played in a nominal 'G' on the Northumbrian pipes.

# Posted on November 29th 2011 by Weejie

I used to sing a song in English about the Greenland whale fisheries to this air... I believe I picked it up in the Canadian Maritimes,Newfoundland... It has been a long time since I sang it but will see if I can find anymore solid information than my mind...

# Posted on November 29th 2011 by ceolachan

Tweedside

The Orpheus Caledonius version of 'Tweedside' is good but would be better served here as a separate listing from 'For Ireland I Won't Say Her Name'. Although the two tunes are similar in their rhythmic phrasing (3-bar groups of 3/4) they don't coincide in their melody or underlying harmony. Perhaps Tomás Ó Canainn has a very different version of 'For Ireland'?

# Posted on November 30th 2011 by Matt Seattle

"Perhaps Tomás Ó Canainn has a very different version of 'For Ireland'?"

Nope. He actually prints a version in the book. It's a more accurate transcription of the commonly played versions than the transcription here.
I suppose it's down to opinion. I can see the similarities - especially when the two are compared with 'Abha na Laoi' , but I wouldn't say for sure that one came from the other.

# Posted on November 30th 2011 by Weejie

"I suppose it's down to opinion ... I wouldn't say for sure that one came from the other"

Fair enough, Weejie, and neither would I say for sure that one DIDN'T come from the other, but it does seem to me that they are now different tunes.

# Posted on November 30th 2011 by Matt Seattle

Make the separate submission and link the two in the comments, leaving the debate open?

# Posted on November 30th 2011 by ceolachan

Yep, I'll submit it as a separate tune, but I'll also add Ó Canainn's words, which I have to agree with:

[It may come as a surprise to many to find that an analysis of traditional composition and transmission must include the effect of error on the tradition itself. Many a tune has been changed in transmission because a musician made a genuine mistake in learning it. This mistake, compounded in subsequent transmission, could eventually result in a whole new tune-family.]

It is also interesting that when Mixolydian submitted the ABC of a tune looking for a title, the version he submitted brought Tweedside into my head rather than "For Ireland" - though in actual fact, the notes are probably closer to those of the latter (hence my posting Tweedside here).

Ó Canainn's version of Abha na Laoi:

X:1
T:Abha na Laoi
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:G
FA|B2E2EF|G2A2BA|B4EG|F2E2 (3DEF)|A2F2EF|
D4FA|B2E2EF|G2A2BA|B4EG|F2E2DE|F2E2E2|E4||
Bc|d2e2 (3dBA)|G2B2d2|e4 (3fge)|d2e2BA|GF EF AF|
D4FA|B2E2EF|G2A2BA|B4EG|F2E2DF|F2E2E2|E4|]

And his version of "For Ireland":

X:1
T:Ar Éirinn ní Neosfainn Cé Hí
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:G
GA|B2D2D2|E2G3A|B4GA|B2D2D2|E2G2B2|A3B/2A/2 GA|
B2D2D2|Ec- c3/2d/2c/2 BA|B4AG|E2D2D2|
E G3G2|G4Bc|d2B2 (3ABA)|G2B2d2|e4ge|
d2B2A2|G3A B2|A4GA|B2D2D2|Ec- c3/2d/2c/2 BA|
B4A/2B/2A/2G/2|E2D2D2|E G3G2|G4|]

Note that he set Tweedside in G too.

# Posted on December 1st 2011 by Weejie

I love it! - theÓ Canainn quote...

"~ sheer devilment, inspiration, confusion,drink and/or old age..."

# Posted on December 1st 2011 by ceolachan

Yes, excellent quote!

Makes a great motto. Let's try it in my poor Irish:

"Spraoi fórsa, inspioráid, mearbhall, deoch agus / nó pinsean seanaoise!"

# Posted on December 1st 2011 by muspc

"Tweed Side"

Submitted on December 1st 2011 by Weejie.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/11612

# Posted on December 2nd 2011 by ceolachan