(عربي)
It’s been almost two years since I’d known the Irish song “The foggy dew” sang by the great Tommy Makem. By then, I wasn’t giving attention to the lyrics as I used to have problems understanding lyrics in general. But the song was perfectly fit for cold mornings, a short train trip through north Hertfordshire fields, then a short bicycle ride inside Cambridge. Later, and thanks to the wonders of the Internet, clicks, and links lead me again to this song, but this time to discover many of the historical details that’d been buried inside its touching lyrics. Navigating from a speech of Eamon de Valera to an article about his companion in the Irish struggle for independence Cathal Brugha who I found him mentioned in the lyrics, which was a good reason to dive into this song again:
As down the glen one Easter morn to a city fair rode I
There Armed lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by
No fife did hum nor battle drum did sound it’s dread tattoo
But the Angelus bell o’er the Liffey swell rang out through the foggy dew
Right proudly high over Dublin Town they hung out the flag of war
‘Twas better to die ‘neath an Irish sky than at Sulva or Sud El Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through
While Britannia’s Huns, with their long range guns sailed in through the foggy dew
‘Twas Britannia bade our Wild Geese go that small nations might be free
But their lonely graves are by Sulva’s waves or the shore of the Great North Sea
Oh, had they died by Pearse’s side or fought with Cathal Brugha
Their names we will keep where the fenians sleep ‘neath the shroud of the foggy dew
But the bravest fell, and the requiem bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Eastertide in the springing of the year
And the world did gaze, in deep amaze, at those fearless men, but few
Who bore the fight that freedom’s light might shine through the foggy dew
The song is sad and full of eulogy for the event of executing Patrick Pearse and 15 others in the easter of 1916, the beginning of the song evokes the feelings of the revolutionary movement led by Pearse and his colleagues. Brits viewed as Huns, and Angelus bell was supposed to ring through the foggy dew. Two inaccurate images, especially the one for the bell to ring for a revolutionary movement that the catholic church hadn’t supported, neither had the church been in harmony with the Irish republican brotherhood (IRB). [1]
I am not sure if Tattoos had a particular symbolism for the Irish revolutionaries, at least, I couldn’t find any special Tattoo that had been used by IRB, but from the lyrics we see that “No fife did hum nor battle drum did sound it’s dread tattoo”, the Tattoo was giving the sound in addition to the church bells.
The other important topic in the lyrics was about Irish youth joining the British forces and dying in the campaign of Gallipoli, the battle that we in the middle east know as Chanak Kale battle in the west of Anatolia. In that battle, Britain had summoned troops from all around the British empire, as the battle was known for the contribution of Australians, Canadians from Newfoundland, troops from New Zealand, and also from Ireland. About 3000 Irish soldiers had died there, as well as most of the British force which numbered 27 soldiers, which means that Irish soldiers in the campaign were initially 3500 to 4000. Irish youth were mainly joining British forces for economical reasons, few were joining for adventures and to get military training which would be useful for future revolutionary activities as happened with some who joined IRA later. [2]
IRB didn’t let such event pass, but they used it for mass mobilization and to promote a better reason for fight and death under Irish sky instead of dying “at Sulva or Sud El Bar” which both are places near Chanak Kale as did the wild Geese (term used to describe Irish exiles or immigrants) who believed the claims of the English to set the small nations free. It’s like the song is objecting: shouldn’t your small nation be free first, while you believe such claims?
Fenians is a term that’s used to describe members of IRB, and it was derived from young fighting groups in the Irish mythology (Fianna). It’s a way to glorify those who’d died all along the 19th century until the establishment of IRA. Famous Dubliners band preferred not to sing that part about Fenians in their version of the song, probably not to affect their publicity in places other than Ireland. And again, the church bell gets involved in the funeral of martyrs whom the church didn’t care much about them actually.
Finally, after all that musical beauty which surrounds the Irish revolutionary spirit and the Irish resistance, and even though there was persecution happened from England towards the Irish, it’s important not to let the narrative of the resistance cover all the Irish history, and not let it to be louder than any other voice. Many people don’t know about 10% of southern Ireland people who were unionists by 1913, as there’re many Scottish unionists today, but we can’t hear the narrative of these people in Ireland anymore. It’s important to know also that the severe injustices towards Irish were committed a long time before the age of the resistance and to know also that as many resistance movements in the world did, Irish resistance was the main reason for the death of many naïve teens joining it, as well as innocents who didn’t support it. But in the end, this is almost the only Irish sound that we hear and recognize, thanks to such touching songs and beautiful music, we know only the narrative of the resistance but we should remember that it’s not the only narrative for Ireland, at least for my enlightened Irish friend who explained that to me.