Hi there,
The lyrics on the broadsheet run;
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a sweet voice calling,
'Oh Danny, they have taken you away.
for you stole Travelian's corn,
that your babes might see the dawn,
now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.'
chorus
Fair lie the fields of Athenry
where we stood to watch the small freebirds fly.
Our love grew with the spring,
we had dreams and songs to sing
as we wandered through the fields of Athenry.
I heard a young man calling
'nothing matters, Jenny, when your'e free
'gainst the famine and the crown,
I rebelled, they ran me down,
now you must raise our children without me.'
Chorus
On the windswept harbour wall,
she watched the last star rising
as the prison ship sailed out accross the sky
But she will watch and hope and pray,
for her love in Botany bay
whilst she is lonely in the fields of Athenry
There are 2 tunes commonly used for these words (or varients therof) the
more modern is to be found in collections of the more sentimental and
mawkish pub ballads, the earlier one is simpler (3 chords, no modulation)
and this is the tune that appears on the ballad sheet published by Devlin
in Dublin and dated 1888. The words are slightly different to ost recorded
versions that I have heard but hey, this is 'folk' music (whatever that
it;-)
On the subject of transportation (the criminal variety) remember that we
only started using Australia after we stopped being able to use the
Americas...and post Australia we used South Africa. Of course, since we
don't have colonies anymore, the criminal population seems to be based in
the area of London that I live in!!!
be happy,
Mike.