Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore

DESCRIPTION: A knight meeting a beautiful lady wearing gems and a gold ring asks why she is not afraid to walk alone in Ireland. She answers: "No son of Erin will offer me harm; For tho' they love woman and golden store, Sir Knight! they love honor and virtue more!"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST DATE: 1846 (Moore-IrishMelodies-1846)
KEYWORDS: virtue beauty gold Ireland patriotic knight
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Moore-IrishMelodies-1846, pp. 19-20, "Rich and rare were the gems she wore" (1 text)
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, p. 111, "Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore" (1 text)
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, p. 100, "Rich and Rare Were the Gems" (1 text); p. 189, "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #V13985
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8, "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore", R. March & Co. (London), 1877-1884; also Firth b.26(338), "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore"
NOTES [72 words]: Not one of Moore's hits; Granger's Index to Poetry doesn't mention a single anthology containing the piece, and I know of no traditional collections. Interestingly, however, Edward Harrigan, the New York writer of ethnic plays (for whom see "Babies on Our Block") quotes two lines of this in his book The Mulligans, implying some sort of folk currency. (See Edward Harrigan, The Mulligans, G. W. Dillingham, 1901, p. 51). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: OCon111

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography