Shady Road to Clane, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes an idyllic spot on "the shady road from Bodenstown to Clane." He meets a beautiful maid who asks "is this the shady road to Clane?" He assures her it is. She leaves. He is dejected. He must find "the maid that stole my heart"
AUTHOR: John Ennis (see NOTES)
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Chicago IL Inter Ocean; see NOTES)
KEYWORDS: love beauty separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads 77, "The Shady Road to Clane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9769
NOTES [256 words]: OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads lists this as by "John Dennis," but this appears to be an error of hearing for John Ennis. Nick Whitmer send me this newspaper excerpt which gives background on the song:
The Revival of Erin's Language and Music in Chicago.
By John Ennis.
'Ballads Written by Chicagoans
"The Irish Music club is taking a practical and effective method of reviving and popularizing the old forgotten melodies by writing words to them after the style of the old time Irish ballads. The first of the songs to be published, and which will be out in a few days is 'The Shady Road to Clane.' The words have the ring of the once popular Irish love song. The music, which is a typically rich Irish melody and a delightful waltz, was arranged by Mr. Francis Murnihan, the official scribe of the club."
Mr. Whitmer tells me that the above comes from the Chicago, IL Inter Ocean, June 11, 1905, Magazine p. 2 column 1, and that eight verses of the text follow, meaning that this version is slightly fuller than the seven stanzas in OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads.
Mr. Whitmer also found a copyright record in Ennis's name: "Shady Road to Clane, song" was registered for US Copyright as a musical composition in June 1905 in name of John Ennis, Chicago. US Library of Congress. Office of the Register of Copyrights. Catalogue of Title Entries of Books ... V. 44, No. 28 p. 499. [Available on] Google Books."
Mr. Whitmer has compiled a short biography of Ennis; it can be found at http://livesofthepipers.com/2ennisjohn.html. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: OLcM077

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