Show menu

The Curragh of Kildare - Country & Folk

Thanks! Share it with your friends!

You disliked this video. Thanks for the feedback!

Added by
147 Views
The Curragh of Kildare, also known as The Winter it is Past, is a folk song particularly associated with the Irish tradition.

Elements of some versions of the song suggest that it dates from at least the mid 18th century. The Curragh of Kildare speaks of the actual Curragh, which is a large area of common land in Kildare, Ireland, used to rally the Irish Army.

The history of the text is rather complicated. Versions were taken down at different times in Ireland by collectors like Petrie and Joyce. The song has also been collected in Scotland and even in England; the singer Frank Purslow collected a version (The Winter's Gone and Past) in Dorset.Petrie was of the opinion that it was an "old Anglo-Irish song" and argued that the Scottish versions were most likely developed from it. Several printed ballad versions exist, under titles such as The Lamenting Maid.

The most well known version of the text, usually referred to by the title The Winter it is Past, is attributed to Robert Burns. Burns appears to have developed it from a popular stall-ballad, The Lovesick Maid, which referred to a highwayman called Johnson, who was hanged in 1750 for robbery in the Curragh. Burns polished the original text considerably and removed two stanzas referring directly to Johnson. The resulting ballad was published in the collection the Scots Musical Museum.
Category
Highway Men
Commenting disabled.

Up Next