Follow Me Up To Carlow

reel

Key signature: Adorian

Submitted on April 10th 2003 by tufbo.

This tune has been added to 49 tunebooks.

Also known as Bonnie Anne's, Follow Me Down To Carlow.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• An Traidisiun Beo by Angelina Carberry
• Anarchy And Rapture by Annwn
• Archives #1 by Jean Carignan And Gilles Losier
• Brathar Na NOl by Monks Of The Screw Trio
• Carrig River by Shades Of MacMurrough
• Celtic Armadillo by Off Kilter
• Ceol Cill Na Martra by Connie O'Connell
• Foxglove by Moving Cloud
• I'm Here Because I'm Here by Quilty
• Inné Amarach by Teada
• Inside Out by Mícheál O' Raghallaigh
• Irish Violin by Jackie Roche
• Now And Then by Daoine Sidhe
• Passion And Pride by Annwn
• Planxty by Planxty
• Rud Eile by Rud Eile
• The Eamonn Ceannt Ceili Band by The Eamonn Ceannt Ceili Band
• The Morning Mist by Joe Burke
• The Old Fireside Music by Mike And Mary Rafferty
• Unearthed by Paul McGlinchey
• Wooden Flute Obsession: Volume 3, Disc 2 by Various Artists
• Year Of The Dog by Culann's Hounds

X: 1
T: Follow Me Up To Carlow
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Ador
(3ABA AG EF G2|AGAB cded|BA (3B^cd eaaf|(3gfe dB BAdB|
(3ABA AG EF G2|AGAB cded|BA (3B^cd eaaf|(3gfe dB BA A2||
egdg egd>c|BG G2 Bc d2|egdg eaaf|(3gfe dB BA A2|
agef gedB|(3cBA (3BAG EFGB|AGAB cdef|(3gfe dB BA A2||

Also a song

I've never heard Follow Me Up To Carlow as a tune before, but I know it very well as a song recorded by Planxty in "the old days" and more recently by Quilty. (So the links in the recordings section refers to the song, not the tune). If I've recalled it right, it's a very old song, the lyrics are referring to Queen Elizabeth I.
It's about a battle where the Irish beat up the English real bad. The lyrics are hilarious! This is from the third verse:
"From Tassagart to Clonmore, there flows a stream of Saxon gore
Och, great is Rory Óg O'More at sending loons to Hades
White is sick and Lane is fled, now for black FitzWilliam's head
We'll send it over, dripping red, to queen Liza and her ladies"

The melody is slightly different in the tune, but it is unmistakebly the same melody.

# Posted on April 13th 2003 by lars

Follow me up

Hi,
I thimk I've heard it as a hornpipe somewhere sometimes, but I cannot remember that much. So it definitively must have been in a great pub. Anyway it works pretty well as a hornpipe, too.

# Posted on April 13th 2003 by swisspiper

Culann's Hounds

There's a great Celtic band in San Francisco what does a bang-up version of this! Their website is sfhounds.com

They're a great group of guys (and a girl) and really wollop this one.

# Posted on September 20th 2006 by cloudbuster

Lyrics

Follow me up to Carlow
Author: Patrick Joseph McCall

Lift MacCahir Og your face brooding o'er the old disgrace
That black FitzWilliam stormed your place, drove you to the Fern
Grey said victory was sure soon the firebrand he'd secure;
Until he met at Glenmalure with Feach MacHugh O'Byrne.

CHORUS
Curse and swear Lord Kildare
Feagh will do what Feach will dare
Now FitzWilliam, have a care
Fallen is your star, low
Up with halbert out with sword
On we'll go for by the lord
Feach MacHugh has given the word,
Follow me up to Carlow.

See the swords of Glen Imayle, flashing o'er the English Pale
See all the children of the Gael, beneath O'Byrne's banners
Rooster of the fighting stock, would you let a Saxon cock
Crow out upon an Irish rock, fly up and teach him manners.

From Tassagart to Clonmore, there flows a stream of Saxon gore
Och, great is Rory Oge O'More, sending the loons to Hades.
White is sick and Grey is fled, now for black Fitzwilliam's head
We'll send it over, dripping red, to Queen Liza and the ladies.

# Posted on July 12th 2007 by MBAC

Go here for other versions of the tune

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5861
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4168

# Posted on May 28th 2008 by Dow