Is the title of Rights of Man a reference to the french Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) and/or Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “The Righs of Man”? I am aware the Irish were rather influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution (aparently their origional tricolour was based off of the French one), so I was just wondering if this was yet another sign of that influence.
My understanding is that the tune is named after Paine’s famous pamphlet, and also that the tune is originally English (like many if not most hornpipes), and specifically Northumbrian. Well, at least the tune is strongly present in Northumbria.
Here’s what The Fiddler’s Companion has to say about it:
“RIGHTS OF MAN (Ceart Na Cine Daona). Irish, Scottish, English; Hornpipe. Ireland; Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border, Sligo. England, Northumberland. E Aeolian (Em) {most settings}: D Minor {Williamson}. Standard. AB (Moylan): AABB (most settings): AA’BB’ (Cranford, Kerr). Williamson (1976) says the tune was popular in both Scotland and Ireland, though Hunter (1979) believes it was Irish in origin. The Northumbrian composer and fiddler James Hill (who was born in Scotland) is sometimes credited as having composed the tune, apparently on the strength of one assignation to him in an older collection; it remains doubtful he is the author. Tom Paine’s (1737-1809) book, The Rights of Man, was written to refute Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, and sold a phenomenol (for the time) 200,000 copies in England while causing a furor for its support of the revolution. Paine was burned in effigy on English village greens, and his book was consigned to the flames. The printer who published the book was arrested and a Royal proclamation prohibited the sale of the book, though it continued to enjoy a wide underground circulation, particularly in Scotland and Ireland where it gave support to those who found themselves oppressed. Influenced by Paine’s work, a later document called “Declaration des droits de l’homme” was drafted by the first National Assembly during the French Revolution of 1789 to be incorporated into the new constitution of France. The next year the constitution was approved by the captive Bourbon king, Louis XVI, although he was executed soon afterward.”
Nothing definitive there as to what the inspiration was. My money’s on Paine’s work.
Fascinating!
I have a little bottle of phenomenol. I spray it around the house when things get boring.
Heh. I was hoping someone’d catch that. 
Just FYI, Paine’s document was written in 1791, two years after Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was written (Aug 20-26 1789). But that’s irrelevant.
Oh, I don’t know. I think accuracy of facts is always relevant sooner or later, even in humble musical discussions like this one. You just never know what will lead to what, and I’d rather have the goods. Thanks for the clarification.
I say, Bloomfield: aren’t you chummy with those chaps over at Ceolas? If you have the time, could you pop on over and mildly chastise them for playing fast and loose with historic veracity? And while you’re at it, PLEASE tell someone how to spell “phenomenal”.
For what it’s worth, it appears to be accepted without question (that I’m aware of, anyway) by historians [e.g. Thomas Paine and the Promise of America, by Harvey J. Kaye, 2005, p.77-8) writing about Thomas Paine, that this hornpipe is titled for Paine’s 1791-92 pamphlets of that title, for which he was prosecuted for sedition in England (a hanging offense) & was probably lucky to escape (by night boat from Dover to Calais) after being warned by (his friend) William Blake. Prime Minister William Pitt (the younger) was not amused. By then Paine, English by birth, had already played a prominent role—as a remarkably powerful writer of pamphlets (the internet of the time)—in revolutions in America and France and was internationally known.
lyrics (anonymous) that fit B part of Rights of Man:
They’re going to hang you Tom,
For God’s sake run,
If you’re dead Tom Paine,
You’re no good to anyone.
Pitt’s out to get you,
Screw your head on tight.
Take the next boat from Dover,
Get to France tonight.
They’re looking for you Tom,
There’s agents everywhere.
You’ve PUT the black smell
Of revolution in the air.
Your pen lights a fire,
Stirs a dreadful fright.
Goddamn, Paine,
Get to France tonight!
Ok if pedantry is the order of the day, then shouldn’t that be ‘from Dover’?