St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day!

O Paddy dear, an' did ye hear the news that's goin' round?
The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground;
St. Patrick's Day no more we'll keep, his colour can't be seen,
For there's a cruel law agin the wearin' o' the Green.

Not a cruel law exactly, but Church authorities moved the day of the Feast of St. Patrick so that it would not coincide this year with a day of the Roman Catholic observance of the Holy Week. However, secular celebrations and parades will in most cases be held today, as normal!

I met wid Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand,
And he said, "How's poor ould Ireland, and tell me how does she stand?"
She's the most distressful country that ever you have seen,
For they're hangin' men an' women here for the wearin' o' the Green.

I will not write about rebellion, sacrifice, famine and suffering, though the Sean-Bhean bhocht (meaning Poor old woman, pronounced shan van vocht, a personification of Ireland) has seen blood and suffering aplenty.

Then since the colour we must wear is England's cruel red,
Sure Ireland's sons shall ne'er forget the blood that they have shed,
You may take the shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod,
It will take root and flourish there though underfoot it's trod.

Instead, I will write about music.

What is this thing in the Irish soul that draws forth such music? Sure enough, any southern Italian will move from operatic mourning to spirited tarantella and the Asturians and their gaitas make the Atlantic seem to come alive, but... I cannot put it in words, this way that reels and ballads and dirges blend in Irish music like mischievous leprechauns taunting sad banshees in a mad dance around Gaelic ruins in distant fields of brightest green...

It is not a Paddy Day reel. It is not even a traditional song. And it is not even written or sung by an Irishman! (Although it is based on an irish traditional tune) Which serves only to show how great an inspiration Ireland has become to folk music. (Well that, and maybe how great girls from Galway are... :-) ) Recently made popular by the film "P.S, I love you". Do not make faces. DO see the movie. It is not the average chick-flick. Hillary Swank is an absolute goddess (so hot I did not even recognise her at the beginning) and the story illustrates the truth that painful losses are not forgotten simply by the mercy of time and people around us saying "get over it" and "snap out of it" and "move on".

Anyway, "Galway Girl" by Steve Earle




Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a day -I-ay-I-ay
I met a little girl and we stopped to talk
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
And I knew right then I'd be takin' a whirl
'Round the Salthill Prom with a Galway girl

We were halfway there when the rain came down
Of a day -I-ay-I-ay
And she asked me up to her flat downtown
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
So I took her hand and I gave her a twirl
And I lost my heart to a Galway girl

When I woke up I was all alone
With a broken heart and a ticket home
And I ask you now, tell me what would you do
If her hair was black and her eyes were blue
I've traveled around I've been all over this world
Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl

So put on something green... and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!



(And who knows, maybe one day we will be able to catch the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow and get his cauldron of gold...)

Now the Scotsman can boast of the Thistle
And the English may boast of the Rose
But Paddy alone can claim the Emerald Isle
Where the green three-leaved Shamrock grows

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