| "A Nation Once Again" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | 1840s |
| Published | 13 July 1844 |
| Composer(s) | Various, including Thomas Sherlock, Edward Comerford and James J. Johnson |
| Lyricist(s) | Thomas Osborne Davis |
"A Nation Once Again" is an Irish nationalist song published in 1844 with lyrics by Thomas Osborne Davis (1814–1845). It has been set to various tunes.
Background
[edit]Davis, a Protestant nationalist from County Cork,[1][2][3] was one of the three co-founders of Young Ireland, a movement whose aim was for Ireland to gain independence from Britain.[4][5]
Davis believed that songs could have a strong emotional impact on people. He wrote that "a song is worth a thousand harangues".[citation needed]
He felt that music could have a particularly strong influence on the Irish people. He wrote: "Music is the first faculty of the Irish... we will endeavour to teach the people to sing the songs of their country that they may keep alive in their minds the love of the fatherland."[6]
Davis' lyrics use a simple ABABCDCD rhyme scheme, with verses of eight lines, and alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.[citation needed]
Lyrical themes and narrative
[edit]It is a prime example of an Irish rebel song.[citation needed]
The song's narrator dreams of a time when Ireland will be, as the title suggests, a free land, with "our fetters rent in twain".[7] The lyrics exhort Irish people to stand up and fight for their land: "And righteous men must make our land a nation once again".[citation needed]
The narrator describes how he learned of ancient fighters for freedom as a boy — the three hundred Spartans who fought at the Battle of Thermopylae.[8] The "three men" refers to the Horatii.[9]
The narrator then declares his belief that only moral, religious men can set Ireland free, and states his own aim is to make himself worthy of such a task.[citation needed] Davis himself "never tired of inculcating that the high and holy service of Ireland would be profaned by passions vain or ignoble".[10][11]
Churchill's use of phrase
[edit]Winston Churchill, the British prime minister, used the title phrase in an attempt to pressure Ireland to join the Allied Forces during World War II. In a telegram sent to the Éamon de Valera, the taoiseach, on 8 December 1941, Churchill wrote: "Now is your chance. Now or never. 'A nation once again'. Am very ready to meet you at any time." This has been interpreted to propose that if Ireland joined forces with Britain in the war then a united Ireland would be the reward. However, on the following day, Lord Cranborne, the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, informed Lord Maffey, Britain's representative to Ireland, that Churchill's use of the phrase "certainly contemplated no deal over partition" and was actually intended to mean that "by coming into the war Ireland would regain her soul". In any case, de Valera did not respond to Churchill's telegram, and Ireland maintained a position of military neutrality for the entire duration of the war.[12][13][14]
Tunes
[edit]Davis copied the melody for "A Nation Once Again" from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.[15]
A different melody, by an anonymous composer, accompanied the text on its first publication, which occurred in a collection called The Spirit of the Nation. This tune was unsuccessful because it was too complex.[16]
The next tune was written by Dublin-born journalist and part-time composer, Thomas Sherlock (1840-1901).[17]
The next melody was composed by Edward Comerford (died 1894), a music teacher and conductor[18] based in Church Street, Dundalk, who was the son of Young Irelander Patrick Comerford and who later became the organist at Waterford Cathedral.[19][20][21][22] His tune was published in June 1886.[23] The following month, the Irish Monthly described Comerford's version as "a very spirited setting" and opined that he "could not have chosen a more appropriate time" to release it.[24][25] Comerford changed the word "boyhood" to "childhood" in the first line "in order that it may be sung by feminine voices also".[26][27]
Despite the good review in the Irish Monthly, ballad historian Eugene Dunphy's research suggests that no recording of Edward Comerford's version has ever been made,[28] although the sheet music itself is preserved in the National Library of Ireland's collection.[29]
The final tune was written by another Dubliner, James J. Johnson, in 1887. This version was an immediate success.[30]
Lyrics
[edit]When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen,
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood,
Three hundred men and three men;
And then I prayed I yet might see
Our fetters rent in twain,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!
A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!
And from that time, through wildest woe,
That hope has shone a far light,
Nor could love's brightest summer glow
Outshine that solemn starlight;
It seemed to watch above my head
In forum, field and fane,
Its angel voice sang round my bed,
A Nation once again!
A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!
It whisper'd too, that freedom's ark
And service high and holy,
Would be profaned by feelings dark
And passions vain or lowly;
For, Freedom comes from God's right hand,
And needs a Godly train;
And righteous men must make our land
A Nation once again!
A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!
So, as I grew from boy to man,
I bent me to that bidding
My spirit of each selfish plan
And cruel passion ridding;
For, thus I hoped some day to aid,
Oh, can such hope be vain?
When my dear country shall be made
A Nation once again!
Notable performers
[edit]"A Nation Once Again" was first published in Young Ireland's newspaper, The Nation, on 13 July 1844 and quickly became a rallying call for the growing Irish nationalist movement at that time.[31]
Since then, song has been recorded by many Irish singers and groups, notably John McCormack in 1906, Our Lady's Choral Society in 1965, and, following on from them, The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, the Poxy Boggards, The Irish Tenors and Sean Conway.[citation needed] McCormack and The Dubliners both used the Johnson tune.[32]
In The Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night, Paul McCartney's Irish grandfather begins singing the song to Metropolitan Police officers after they arrest him for peddling autographed pictures of the band members.[33]
The Wolfe Tones' version
[edit]The Wolfe Tones are the group most associated with the song, having played it on tour around the world.[34][35]
In 2002, after an orchestrated e-mail campaign,[36][37] their version was voted the world's most popular song in a BBC World Service global listeners' poll.[38][39]
References
[edit]- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ Daly, Raymond (2008). Celtic and Ireland in Song and Story. Studio Print. p. 84.
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9]
- ^ [10]
- ^ "No. 154 TNA DO 130/17: Telegram from Winston Churchill to Eamon de Valera (Dublin) (No. 120) (Most Immediate)". Documents on Irish Foreign Policy. Vol. 6: 1939–1941. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/National Archives of Ireland/Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ^ Packard, Jerrold M. (1992). Neither Friend Nor Foe: The European Neutrals in World War II. Scribner. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-684-19248-2. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ [11]
- ^ Murphy, Pauline (16 September 2020). "On This Day: Thomas Davis, composer of A Nation Once Again, passed away". Irish Central. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ [12]
- ^ [13]
- ^ "e comerford" conductor&yearFrom=1860&toYear=1900
- ^ [14]
- ^ [15]
- ^ [16]
- ^ [17]
- ^ [18]
- ^ [19]
- ^ [20]
- ^ [21]
- ^ [22]
- ^ [23]
- ^ [24]
- ^ [25]
- ^ [26]
- ^ [27]
- ^ [28]
- ^ [29]
- ^ [30]
- ^ Paterson, Michael (December 14, 2002). "Late surge for Irish anthem in BBC poll". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
- ^ Chaudhary, Vivek (December 3, 2003). "Gaelic footballer's fans try to topple Jonny Wilkinson by rigging sport poll". The Guardian. London. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
- ^ BBC News Service: "World's Top Ten".
- ^ [31]
External links
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