My wife insists that I learn this tune, since she’s had to listen to me for over ten years (over half our total)on the whistle. I need to oblige. ANyone familiar with it and what is the Gaelic for Isle, maybe I already have it in a tunebook and am not recognizing it. Thanks. Philo
On 2002-01-13 12:44, PhilO wrote:
…and what is the Gaelic for Isle,
Isle = Inis (or Inish)
I have never heard of this tune. Is it on a recording somewhere?
Cheers,
David
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2002-01-13 13:09 ]
Hi, Phil,
This is one of my favorite songs–I
can’t imagine there are two songs by
that name. The song is about Annie Moore,
a 15-year-old Irish girl, who was
the first person to enter the USA
at Ellis Island. It was written
by Brendan Graham.
It begins:
On the first day of January 1892
They opened Ellis Island
And they let the people through.
And the first to cross the threshold
of that isle of hope and tears
Was Annie Moore from Ireland,
who was all of 15 years.
Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it’s not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you’ll never see again,
But the isle of home is always on your mind.
Powerful stuff.
Dolores and Sean Keane have recorded
this wonderfully on
the Celtic Heartbeat CD
‘A Winter’s Tale,’ which is
one of my favorite CDs.
In the liner notes, Graham says
that Annie Moore
grew up to be a beauty, married and
had children, and ‘in 1923, somewhere
between Fort Worth and Dallas, one of
the new rapid transit trains struck
her down.’
One can accompany the CD very nicely
on a C whistle.
Best, Jim
David, Jim - Thanks so much from spouse and me. Philo
No one has mentione yet (so I will) that the song is called Isle of Home.
My personal favourite version is the solo recording by Sean Keane on his ‘best of’ CD.
Steve Power
[ This Message was edited by: StevePower on 2002-01-13 18:18 ]
Thanks Steve.