Thank You for Hearing Me: “The Moorlough Shore”

Traditional, arranged by Sinéad O'Connor/Dónal Lunny/B. Alexander/Alan Branch/Kieran Kiely/O'Neill/A. Maxwell

4 versions

Lyrics

	Your hills and dales and flowery values that lie near the Moorlough Shore,
	Your vines that blow by Bordons Grove, will I ever see you more?
	Where the primrose blows and the violet grows,
	Where the trout and salmon play,
	With my line and hook, delight I took to spend my youthful days.

	Last night I went to see my love and to hear what she might say,
	To see if she'd take pity on me, lest I might go away.
	She said, "I loved an Irish lad and he was my only joy,
	And ever since I saw his face, I've loved that soldier boy."

	"Perhaps your soldier lad is lost, sailing over the sea of main,
	Or perhaps he's gone with some other one. You may never see him again."
	"Well, if my Irish lad is lost, he's the one I do adore,
	And seven years I will wait for him by the banks of the Moorlough Shore."

	Farewell to Sinclair's Castle ground, farewell to the foggy hill
	Where the linen webs lie bleaching silk and the bawdeen stream runs still.
	Near there I spent my youthful days, but alas, they are no more,
	For cruelty has banished me far away from the Moorlough Shore.

Notes

Liner notes

The Moorlough Shore is one of my favourite songs of all time. I first heard it seven or so years ago on a "Say Discs" compilation which had an old man singing it sean-nõs. It seems to me a song which tells a story of impulsiveness and impatience, and the sorrow which can be caused by running away from one's problems. A young man doesn't get what he wants and is not prepared to wait. He leaves because the woman he loves won't go out with him straight away but says he has to wait seven years in case her husband should return alive from wherever he is at war. He runs away from his grief and her test of him and in consequence his old age is full of loneliness and longing for his home. The song really advises, that in life, it's better to face one's losses and grief when they happen, than to run away from them and regret running when it's too late to stop.

Sinéad O'Connor (Source: Sean-Nós Nua)

Musicians

Sinéad O'Connor

vocals

Abdullah Chhadeh

quanun

Nick Coplowe

Hammond

Pete Lockett

percussion

Dónal Lunny

acoustic guitar , bouzouki , keyboard , bodhrán , bodhrán bass

Kieran Kelly

whistle

Skip McDonald

electric guitar

Rob Ó Géibheannaigh

flute , strings

Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie

drums , bass , piano

Bernard O'Neill

acoustic bass

Professor Stretch

drum programming , bass programming

Sharon Shannon

accordion

Steve Wickham

fiddle , mandolin , banjo

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“The Moorlough Shore”