Suit of Green, The

DESCRIPTION: A girl mourns the loss of her love taken by guards "for wearing of the suit of green." Her master buys her a suit of green to wear to Dublin where she pleads with the Colonel for her lover's life. The Colonel spares them both; they will marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.14(134)); first half 19C (Zimmerman-SongsOfIrishRebellion)
KEYWORDS: love marriage request rebellion trial pardon clothes colors Ireland patriotic prisoner
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
OLochlainn-IrishStreetBallads 24, "The Suit of Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmerman-SongsOfIrishRebellion 22, "The Suit of Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBoyle-TheIrishSongTradition 23, "Suit of Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Healy-MercierBookOfOldIrishStreetBalladsVol2, pp. 42-43, "(A Much-Admired New Song Called) The Suit of Green" (1 text)
ST OLoc024 (Partial)
Roud #3023
RECORDINGS:
Cyril O'Brien, "Wearing of the Suit of Green" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(134), "Suit of Green," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1855-1861; also 2806 b.9(226), 2806 c.15(123), 2806 b.9(277), 2806 b.10(208), 2806 b.10(208), Firth c.26(264), Johnson Ballads fol. 363, "[The] Suit of Green"
NOTES [38 words]: Although wearing green was never an actual crime in Ireland, it was often associated with rebels (see "The Wearing of the Green" and the like). In times of trouble, it was likely to invite, shall we say, official attention. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: OLoc024

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