The Wind That Shakes the Barley

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley" is an Irish ballad written by Robert Dwyer Joyce (1836–1883), a Limerick-born poet and professor of English literature. The song is written from the perspective of a doomed young Wexford rebel who is about to sacrifice his relationship with his loved one and plunge into the cauldron of violence associated with the 1798 rebellion in Ireland.[1] The references to barley in the song derive from the fact that the rebels often carried barley or oats in their pockets as provisions for when on the march. This gave rise to the post-rebellion phenomenon of barley growing and marking the "croppy-holes," mass unmarked graves into which slain rebels were thrown, symbolizing the regenerative nature of Irish resistance to British rule. As the barley will grow every year in the Spring time of the year this is said to symbolize Irish resistance to British oppression and that Ireland will never yield and will always oppose British rule on the island.[2]

The song is no. 2994 in the Roud Folk Song Index. There are numerous small variations in different performed versions, and many performers leave out the fourth stanza of Dwyer Joyce's original version. The lyrics below are as those printed in the original 1861 version.

The song's title was borrowed for Ken Loach's 2006 film of the same name, which features the song in one scene.[3]

Lyrics

I sat within a valley green,
I sat there with my true love,
My sad heart strove the two between,
The old love and the new love, -
The old for her, the new that made
Me think of Ireland dearly,
While soft the wind blew down the glade
And shook the golden barley.
Twas hard the woeful words to frame
To break the ties that bound us
Twas harder still to bear the shame
Of foreign chains around us
And so I said, "The mountain glen
I'll seek next morning early
And join the brave United Men!"
While soft winds shook the barley.
While sad I kissed away her tears,
My fond arms 'round her flinging,
The foeman's shot burst on our ears,
From out the wildwood ringing, -
A bullet pierced my true love's side,
In life's young spring so early,
And on my breast in blood she died
While soft winds shook the barley!
I bore her to the wildwood screen,
And many a summer blossom
I placed with branches thick and green
Above her gore-stain'd bosom:-
I wept and kissed her pale, pale cheek,
Then rushed o'er vale and far lea,
My vengeance on the foe to wreak,
While soft winds shook the barley!
But blood for blood without remorse,
I've ta'en at Oulart Hollow
And placed my true love's clay-cold corpse
Where I full soon will follow;
And round her grave I wander drear,
Noon, night and morning early,
With breaking heart whene'er I hear
The wind that shakes the barley![4]

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists including The Chieftains, Loreena McKennitt, The Dubliners, Dolores Keane, Dead Can Dance (sung by Lisa Gerrard), Altan, Solas, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Dick Gaughan, Orthodox Celts, Amanda Palmer, Fire + Ice, The Irish Rovers (as "The Wind That Shakes the Corn"), Sarah Jezebel Deva, Martin Carthy, Declan de Barra, Belfast Food, Poets of the Fall, Glow, and Lumiere.

Other uses of the name

A short section of the song is heard being sung by Micheál Ó Súilleabháin's grandmother Peggy at his wake in the 2006 film of the same name.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "R D Joyce at Ricorso". Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  2. ↑ Damrosch, David (1999). David Damrosch, ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Twentieth Century. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Longman. p. 2854. ISBN 978-0-321-06767-8. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  3. ↑ danielmcfadden (23 March 2007). "The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)". IMDb.
  4. ↑ "Ballads, romances, and songs". google.com.au.
  5. ↑ Archived November 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Jeremy. "The Wind That Shakes The Barley (reel) on The Session". thesession.org.
  7. ↑ "The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)". IMDb.
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