Like many others of my age, I grew up listening to Percy French (if youre under 50, dont ask; just google). The Mountains of Mourne, Are you right there Michael, Slatterys Mounted Foot, Phil the Fluthers Ball and many more songs come to mind. But probably the best-known of all was Come Back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff. Here is a typical version, from Brendan ODowda https://youtube/watch?v=mvZTSwXRqhw . The only problem is that there is one verse that I never heard as a child and which is not now sung. Here it is: Ive loved the young women of every land, That always came easy to me; Just barrin the belles of the Black-a-moor brand And the chocolate shapes of Feegee. But that sort of love is a moonshiny stuff, And never will addle me brain, For the bells will be ringin in Ballyjamesduff For me and me Rosie Kilrain! And through all their glamour, their gas and their guff A whisper comes over the sea, Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me. This explicitly racist verse is not usually sung now and I had never heard of it until yesterday. But in a recent fund-raiser for a Galway Gaelscoil, it was sung. A friend of mine who was present and was shocked by what she heard noted that no-one else was shocked. And a letter she wrote to a local newspaper was not published. She has an adopted daughter of Chinese ethnicity who went to that school. This kind of casual racism is entirely unacceptable. Percy French may have been a man of his time, but the person who sang this song in 2014 is as well. And its a dfferent time.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 10:28:37 +0000
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