Red Is The Rose - Liam Clancy

RED IS THE ROSE

Come over the hills my bonny Irish lass
Come over the hills to your darling
You choose the road love and I'll make a vow
That I'll be your true love forever

Chorus:
Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows
Fair is the lily of the valley
Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne
But my love is fairer than any

It's down in Killarney's green woods that we strayed
When the moon and the stars, they were shining
For the moon shone its rays on her locks of golden hair
And she said she'd be my love forever

Chorus

It's not for the parting with my sister Kate
It's not for the grief of my mother
It's all for the loss of my bonny Irish lass
That my heart is breaking forever

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Liam
• Clancy

[philsteakfreeman]

Who can resist singing along on this chorus? Not me.

[jjfahrni]

I didn't know him long, and I didn't know him well. Well enough to see the magic in his eyes and feel the emotion in his song... every time - as luckypenny said, it brings tears to my eyes.

[TheConnaughtman]

I had a chance to see him in Canton Mass a few months before he passed but i went to work instead, Im sorry till this day about that days work

[loveofthecelt]

There will never be anyone like him. The finest ballad singer...ever.

[TheNewWorldTrio]

Wonderful...... just drifted away in my thoughts listening to this beautiful and sad song this morning.......

[filmgeek812]

the greatest balladeer of our times. ireland in my heart hello from washington, d.c. music like this restores my faith in mankind.

[1garoutte]

I've heard many versions of this song by great performers (Nancy Griffith, Ennis), but this has got to be my favorite.

[BoudiccaBlanc]

Soon, or about the same time; the English also began the "Lowland Clearances" Both continued into the 19th century. Meanwhile the Irish were the victims of  "Penal laws" against Roman Catholics; which remained until the early 20th century.

In the Scots song; the "high road" refers to the king's highway, (paved and a toll) road. The "low road" refers to the "secondary" (free) road He will never stand with his "true love on the banks of Loch Lomond" because he was executed or exiled.

[BoudiccaBlanc]

3-4 @arking95

The "Young Pretender" (as the English called him) was defeated by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (loyal to the German Hanover king of England) at the Battle of Culloden; 16 April 1746.

After the battle of Culloden; those captured, were taken to London, tried for treason and hanged.

Between the time of the two battles; the English had begun the "Highland Clearances;" that is, the forced displacement of the Highland Scots from their farms. Soon...

[BoudiccaBlanc]

1-4 @arking95

The Irish song is older. It refers to the Battle of the Boyne

In 1689, James II attempted to regain his throne from William, Prince of Orange (married to James II's Protestant daughter, Mary) and the English Parliament

Many Scots Highlanders fought with the Irish to restore James II (he was also James VII of Scotland) to the throne The Highlanders & the Irish were Roman Catholics James was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in Northern Ireland on 1 July 1690