“The Plains of Drishane”
Description
The singer "roamed Eastwards to view navigations of the pleasin' grand scene" and other wonders "for this far famed dwelling station Whose proper appelation her name is Drisbane ... For grandeur it has taken the sway from them all"
Long description
The singer "roamed Eastwards to view navigations of the pleasin' grand scene" and other wonders "for this far famed dwelling station Whose proper appelation her name is Drisbane." He admires each plantation, the mill for gringing corn, the huge oxen, guinea-hens, peacock and swan. The trees are matchless. The castle "has baffled molestations and Cromwell's aspirations." Strangers "ponder in amazement whilst on it they are gazing." They tell "in all these foreign places, Spain, Germany and Gaul" that "for grandeur it has taken the sway from them all."
Notes
This, probably consciously, outdoes "The Groves of Blarney." For example, in "Blarney" the castle is attacked by Cromwell: "her he did pommel. And made a breach in her battlement." Cromwell's "molestations" are "baffled" at Drisbane.
OCanainn: The singer "tells me that Johnny Nora Aodha is said to have composed it while going by horse and cart to Drishane for lime. On his arrival he sang the song for the man who was to sell him the lime. Tradition has it that his composition was so well receivd that he got the lime free. It's a good story and deserves to be true!" Maybe so, but to my mind it's too good of a one-upmanship story over the writer of "Castle Hyde,' the "inspiration" for "The Groves of Blarney." And Aodha's song seems to me to one up "The Groves of Blarney" which, itself, one ups "Castle Hyde." - BS
Cross references
- cf. "The Groves of Blarney" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork) and references there
References
- OCanainn, pp. 92-93,123, "The Plains of Drishane" (1 text, 1 tune)
- BI, OCan092