Translation by Samuel Ferguson, Sir (1810 - 1886) and by George Fox (1809 - 1880)
The County of Mayo
Language: English  after the Irish (Gaelic)
On the deck of Patrick Lynch's boat I sat in woful plight, Through my sighing all the weary day and weeping all the night; Were it not that full of sorrow from my people forth I go, By the blessèd sun! 'tis royally I'd sing thy praise, Mayo! When I dwelt at home in plenty, and my gold did much abound, In the company of fair young maids the Spanish ale went round — 'Tis a bitter change from those gay days that now I'm forced to go And must leave my bones in Santa Cruz, far from my own Mayo. They are alter'd girls in Irrul now; 'tis proud they're grown and high, With their hair-bags and their top-knots, for I pass their buckles by — But it 's little now I heed their airs, for God will have it so, That I must depart for foreign lands and leave my sweet Mayo. 'Tis my grief that Patrick Loughlin is not Earl of Irrul still, And that Brian Duff no longer rules as Lord upon the hill: And that Colonel Hugh McGrady should be lying dead and low, And I sailing, sailing swiftly from the county of Mayo.
Confirmed with The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900, ed. by Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1919. Note: many editions credit George Fox alone with this translation, but in Lady Ferguson's biography of her husband, she indicates the true author of this poem was in fact her husband, but since George Fox supplied some work on it, he decided to permit it to be attributed to George Fox alone.
Authorship:
- by Samuel Ferguson, Sir (1810 - 1886), "The County of Mayo" [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- by George Fox (1809 - 1880), "The County of Mayo" [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Irish (Gaelic) by Thomas Flavelle , "Condae Mhaigh Eo"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "The County of Mayo", 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-18
Line count: 16
Word count: 199