Ould Lammas Fair, The

DESCRIPTION: "At the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle long ago, I met a little colleen who set my heart aglow." He recalls the girl even while looking at the lasses of Flanders. Now he is glad to be at home with her, playing the fiddle and recalling the fair
AUTHOR: John Henry Macaulay
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting fiddle reunion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H101, pp. 275-276, "The Ould Lammas Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 46, "Treat your Mary Anne" (1 fragment of the chorus)
Roud #7971
NOTES [59 words]: The reference to courting Flemish girls could date this to several wars, but the reference to "resting from the war," and the fact that the soldiers spent much time there, clearly implies a World War I date. As one would expect of a song composed during Sam Henry's collecting days.
Alice Kane must have learned it when the song was very, very new. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: HHH101

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