Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
This video concludes my series of traditional Irish airs arranged for solo bass viola da gamba, a collection comprising fifty pieces in all.
The selections in this video are as follows:
00:00 The Shamrock Shore: A song about a man who leaves all his friends in Ireland when he sails to England.
01:36 Along with My Love I'll Go: A song about a young woman who wishes to accompany her love, a soldier, even into war at the risk of her life.
03:15 The Green Bushes: There is an English song by this title, and it describes a chance encounter between a young man and a betrothed maiden, which becomes love at first sight and leads to an elopement. The melody, however, is different, and the Irish piece may well have been an instrumental.
04:47 The Magic Mist: The singer describes how he or she fell into a rapturous swoon at the singing of the "dread bard out of Desmond" as "earth faded in magical mist."
06:02 The Lowlands of Holland: A song about a woman whose husband was drafted on her wedding night to fight in Holland.
07:38 Come All You Maids Where'er You Be: In spite of the title, this song is about a single maid whose heart was stolen by a "proper, tall man" and a "son of a gardener."
08:42 Adieu, Lovely Mary: In this song, a young man is about to leave his love to sail to the East Indies. When she is willing to disguise herself as a sailor and to go with him, he reconsiders and decides to stay.
10:01 Barabara Allen: A young man, "sweet William," dies from his unrequited love for Barbara Allen. After his demise, she realizes her hardheartedness and dies from sorrow.
11:29 Bessie: This tune appears to have no surviving lyrics, and it is unclear whether the title refers to a historical or fictional person or the melody is a love song or a ballad.
12:54 Captain Thompson: P. W. Joyce says that the subject of this song is "a voyage to America and a narrow escape from shipwreck." I was unable to find any Irish sea captain by the name of Thompson prior to 1855, when Joyce's work was published.
This video concludes my series of traditional Irish airs arranged for solo bass viola da gamba, a collection comprising fifty pieces in all.
The selections in this video are as follows:
00:00 The Shamrock Shore: A song about a man who leaves all his friends in Ireland when he sails to England.
01:36 Along with My Love I'll Go: A song about a young woman who wishes to accompany her love, a soldier, even into war at the risk of her life.
03:15 The Green Bushes: There is an English song by this title, and it describes a chance encounter between a young man and a betrothed maiden, which becomes love at first sight and leads to an elopement. The melody, however, is different, and the Irish piece may well have been an instrumental.
04:47 The Magic Mist: The singer describes how he or she fell into a rapturous swoon at the singing of the "dread bard out of Desmond" as "earth faded in magical mist."
06:02 The Lowlands of Holland: A song about a woman whose husband was drafted on her wedding night to fight in Holland.
07:38 Come All You Maids Where'er You Be: In spite of the title, this song is about a single maid whose heart was stolen by a "proper, tall man" and a "son of a gardener."
08:42 Adieu, Lovely Mary: In this song, a young man is about to leave his love to sail to the East Indies. When she is willing to disguise herself as a sailor and to go with him, he reconsiders and decides to stay.
10:01 Barabara Allen: A young man, "sweet William," dies from his unrequited love for Barbara Allen. After his demise, she realizes her hardheartedness and dies from sorrow.
11:29 Bessie: This tune appears to have no surviving lyrics, and it is unclear whether the title refers to a historical or fictional person or the melody is a love song or a ballad.
12:54 Captain Thompson: P. W. Joyce says that the subject of this song is "a voyage to America and a narrow escape from shipwreck." I was unable to find any Irish sea captain by the name of Thompson prior to 1855, when Joyce's work was published.
