St Patrick's Day Celebrations

[Peter Jones]

I return from our newly re-opened parish club - wherein the craic is good........ and also wherein is a brave Welsh lady boldly displaying a large, plastic red dragon. She seems to be making a point about a rugby match. I shall pray she survives the evening.

[gwyn]

"On Erin's green valleys (x3)
look down in thy love."
seems to work as a refrain after each verse.

Repeating the last two lines as a chorus to certain subsequent verses results in the singers having to whine out the single syllables; "aid" and "cross", from their initial downbeat, to hold them over a second beat and then an up-beat (and, in some cases, tied to another downbeat). This toe-curling whine invariably conjures up an image of someone at the breakfast table dipping a knife into the Golden Syrup only to have it hang precariously and uncontrollably in the air. It's eventually resolved when it gets to the toast.

"On Erin's green valleys (x3)
look down in thy love."
works though.

[VML]

Whatever the merits of this hymn, surely the pattern should be to repeat, -half and whole- the last line of each verse. There are other hymns/ songs like this in e.g. HON, and they messed those up too, like 'O Mary when our God chose you.'
Folk song is full of songs that carry the story and give the listeners a chance to jon in the last line repeat, but they don't just go back to the first verse every time!! They keep the song rolling along.

[JW]

I had 3 different people thank me for turning up to play 'Hail Glorious St Patrick' yesterday, one of them by phone. This hymn still has a great deal of resonance for Irish people 'exiled' in England.

[quaeritor]

Folk song is full of songs that carry the story and give the listeners a chance to joIn in the last line repeat, but they don't just go back to the first verse every time!! They keep the song rolling along.

So right, VML - I was just trying to put together a suitably witty response to say exactly that - and it hugely adds to the "join-in-ability" of a song (while also giving the unfortunate leader thereof time to remember the next verse). Maybe Gwyn should get out more - to less artistic venues like pubs and folk clubs, although I think the "art" (if I dare call it that) of community singing has perhaps died.

(No offence, Gwyn )

Q