And if so why? Were Irish imprisoned there. Might he be across the sea in southernmost Scotland looking towards Carrickfergus. What has been said here about the meaning is interesting. People make it sound too flowery and heartbreak is a harsh subject. So far I like the Paddy O’Reilly version best, but I feel it could still be done better. I’m glad to have found the discussion here although the posts are old. heard the line as “But in Kilkenny, the laws are written” as given above).īut which version do I sing!? - I think I’ll pick & choose from all suggestions, tho I think with all the verses it’s a bit too weighty & I wouldn’t do the Gaelic (or phonetic Gaelic) bits justice, so I regardless of authenticity I won’t do them. I do however like the specific historical explanation as to why Kilkenny & Carrickfergus are mentioned (though I haven’t prev. Re Carrickfergus, FreeReed argues that it’s a ‘rip off’ - when in fact the 2 songs seem only to share one line - hardly the crime of the century?Ībout the crossing of water symbolising death, I can see that in The Water Is Wide & in one version of Carrickfergus the line is given as “to carry over my love & die” but that still seems odd (does he mean the boatman to die once he’s delivered them to the under - seems a bit mean? But C.deBurgh (another lovely Irish folk singer!) reminded us to not pay the ferryman, I’ve tried that from Birkenhead to Liverpool & it doesn’t go down well. Tracie - I like your confidence about the meaning of both songs, but you’ve not convinced me yet, esp abt The Water Is Wide - what is there that suggests it’s “from the point of view of a jilted woman killing her out-of-wedlock baby and then herself”? Unless I’m reading a sanitised version of the lyrics? > Man o man! this is a minefield - I started out today just wanting to simply get the lyrics to this song, then I started reading some stuff on the site & now all this. His “childhood friends and close relations” have likely been slain or immigrated away, and also likely he may have been a “rebel” and is “on the run,” a vagabond wandering with no home, and a whiskey monkey on his back. ![]() Hence, the tale is one of some poor Irish lad probably in love with an English or Scots soldier’s daughter. So, a love between one and t’other would have been prohibited, no matter how much gold and silver he had to “support her.” These statutes prohibited Irish being spoken or Irish to intermarry with English or Scots. “But in Kilkenny, the laws are written…”) originated. Kilkenny was the place where the Statutes of Kilkenny (i.e. Carrickfergus was the headquarters of the Scots-English army brought over to “pacify” the rowdy folk of Ulster and elsewhere, ya see. Well, lads and coleens…you’ll be after needin’ some help with Irish history here, I see. “Subject: RE: Help: Origins of Carrickfergus Re: ‘Carrickfergus’ the Song not the town near Belfast? (What part of “alas, my love, you do me wrong” do you not understand?) These lyrics are intentially humorous. ![]() I’ve been asked a number of times to perform these songs at weddings, as well as the equally inappropriate Greensleeves – a jilted sugardaddy complains that his mistress has dumped him even though he’s bought her all sorts of stuff. (This is why I think the Van Morrison version is definitive.) I sometimes suspect the lyrics may be intentionally humorous. (My 4th grade teacher sure didn’t realize this when she taught a class of girls the song.) Carrickfergus, far from being a tender love song, is about and from the point of view of a broken down old drunk who has lost everything and is about to die, or would like you to think he’s about to die so please buy him a last drink real soon. The Water is Wide, far from being a tender love song as supposed by careless listeners, is about and from the point of view of a jilted woman killing her out-of-wedlock baby and then herself. Calling for a boat or boatman to carry one over the water is a standard way to express desire for or expectation of death, and appears in a number of traditional and traditionalish lyrics. In traditional English and Irish folk song, crossing over water (usually but not always wide) is symbolism for dying. Free Reed, you’re right – Carrickfergus is clearly quoting the older song in tune and lyric.
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