Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen (The Inniskillen Dragoon)

DESCRIPTION: The soldier is leaving his beautiful Enniskillen. He grieves to leave home and his fair darling, but when war arises, he has no choice. (He rejoices following his safe arrival home, and hopes never to leave again)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1760))
KEYWORDS: war parting soldier return grief courting separation father
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Ireland Britain(England(South),Scotland) Canada
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 150, "Fare Ye Well, Inniskillen" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H631, p. 294, "Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen"; H98b, pp. 472-473, "The Inniskilling Dragoon" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, p. 306, "The Enniskillen Dragoon" (1 text)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Mi 603, "Inniskillin Dragoons" (1 text)
Fowke/MacMillan-PenguinBookOfCanadianFolkSongs 74, "The Enniskillen Dragoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, p. 78, "The Enniskellen Dragoon" (1 text)
Tunney-WhereSongsDoThunder, pp. 63-64, "The Enniskilling Dragoon" (1 text)
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, p. 237, "The Enniskilling Dragoon" (1 text)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #571, p. 38, "Enniskillen Dragoon" (1 reference)
DT, (ENNISDRG*?) ENNISDR2*
ADDITIONAL: Richard Hayward, Ireland Calling (Glasgow,n.d.), pp. 12-13, "The Inniskilling Dragoon" (text, music and reference to Decca F-3374 recorded Dec 31, 1932)
Roud #2185
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "The Inniskilling Dragoon" (on IREButcher02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1760), "Inniskillen Dragoon", J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also 2806 c.15(251), Harding B 11(1293), Harding B 11(4221), "Inniskillen Dragoon"; Harding B 19(103), Harding B 26(169), 2806 c.15(124), Firth c.14(179), Firth c.14(181), Firth b.26(199), Harding B 18(617), "Enniskillen Dragoon"
Murray, Mu23-y1:074, "Inniskillen Dragoon," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
LOCSinging, sb10110a, "Enniskillen Dragoon", H. De Marsan (New York), 1859-1860
NLScotland, L.C.1270(005), "Inniskillen Dragoon", James Kay (Glasgow), c.1845
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Damsel Possessed of Great Beauty"
cf. "Wyandotte's Farewell Song"
NOTES [237 words]: Not to be confused with the pop folk song "Fare Thee Well, Enniskillen" by Tommy Makem.
The reference to the soldier setting out for Spain probably implies a date during the war of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) or the Peninsular phase of the Napoleonic Wars.
Roud lists Sam Henry #631 as a separate song (#6890), but since he has only the one item by that number, it seems better to lump.
Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 76, lists this as by George Sigerson, who also wrote "The Mountains of Pomeroy" and worked on some Irish Gaelic poetry. But note that the earliest broadsides were published when Sigerson was still a babe in arms, if indeed he had been born at all. "The Mountains of Pomeroy" is a variant on "Rinordine"; I suspect Sigerson might also have penned an alternate form of this song. - RBW
Broadsides NLScotland L.C.1270(005)[c.1845], Bodleian Firth c.14(179)[n.d.], Bodleian Firth c.26(211)[1855-1858] and Bodleian Firth b.26(199)[1847-1852]: a final verse is added in which they marry when the war is over.
Broadside LOCSinging sb10110a: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site.
The date and master id (GB-5416-1/2) for Hayward's record is provided by Bill Dean-Myatt, MPhil. compiler of the Scottish National Discography. - BS
Last updated in version 6.4
File: E150

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