Youghall Harbour

DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a beautiful girl as he walks toward Youghall. He asks a kiss; she refuses, explaining that her former lover has driven her from Youghall. She will have no more to do with men. He says his intentions are honorable
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland); the "Answers to Youghall Harbour" date to before 1825
KEYWORDS: courting beauty rejection
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H503, p. 273, "Youghall Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, p. 95, "Yougall Harbor" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 198-199, "Youghall Harbour" (1 text, listed as a translation by Samuel Ferguson)
Roud #2734
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Answer to Youghal Harbour"
cf. "Foot and Mouth Disease" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Moreton Bay (I) (File: FaE038)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Youghal Harbour
Yougal Harbour
NOTES [205 words]: The versions of Youghall Harbour are so varied that I think they should be considered at least two ballads. [Though Roud lumps them. - RBW] Examples of "the other Youghall Harbors":
OLochlainn-IrishStreetBallads 8 and Bodleian, Harding B 28(20), "Answer to Youghall Harbour," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(2180), 2806 b.9(227), 2806 b.11(205), Harding B 25(2128), Firth b.27(11/12) View 1 of 2 [partly illegible], 2806 c.15(163), 2806 c.15(17), 2806 b.11(204), Harding B 19(3), "Youghal Harbour" ("As I roved out on a summer's morning") in which Nancy/Mary of Cappoquin has the singer's baby ["A darling baby for you I am rearing"] and is deserted by him twice. [This is in the Index as "Answer to Youghal Harbour."]
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2126), "Answer to Youghall Harbour," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825 in which the singer considers leaving "the fair maid of Caperqueen" at the altar;
Bodleian, Harding B 28(20), "Youghall Harbour" ("In Youghall harbour, on a summer's morning"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(4287), "Youghall Harbour" in which the singer is led to the altar and is sometimes exposed as a rake. This may just be an extension of "Answer to Youghall Harbour." - BS
Last updated in version 5.2
File: HHH503

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