Gals O' Dublin Town, The

DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty (also listed as a forebitter) Chorus: "Hurrah, hurrah, for the gals o' Dublintown. Hurrah for the bonnie green flag and the harp without the crown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Colcord-SongsOfAmericanSailormen)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty (also listed as a forebitter) Chorus: "Hurrah, hurrah, for the gals o' Dublintown. Hurrah for the bonnie green flag and the harp without the crown." There are two versions of this, one describes the ship, flags and captain; the other is more along general sailing themes, i.e. weather and complaints.
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Colcord-SongsOfAmericanSailormen, p. 175, "The Shenandoah" (1 text)
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 140-142, "The Gals o' Dublin Town" (2 texts & a fragment, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 112-113]
ST Hugi140 (Partial)
Roud #7989
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Harp without the Crown
Heave Her and Bust Her
NOTES [116 words]: The "Shenandoah" was an American clipper which sailed out of New York under the command of Captain Jim Murphy. The references to the "harp without the crown" refer to Murphy's custom of flying the Irish flag under the American one. - SL
This seems likely enough (though Ireland of course did not have an official flag at this time; the golden harp on a green field went back to Hugh O'Neill, but the orange, green, and white tricolor was also in use by the middle of the nineteenth century). But I sort of suspect that the song may be a modification of a piece about the C.S.S. raider Shenandoah. This is because both texts and tune look as if they were influenced by "The Bonnie Blue Flag." - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: Hugi140

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