Songs of Percy French

Product Information

An' down from the mountains came the squadrons an' platoons, Four-an'-twinty fightin' min, an' a couple o' sthout gossoons, French was renowned for composing and singing comic songs and gained considerable distinction with such songs as Phil the Fluther's Ball, [5] Slattery's Mounted Foot, and The Mountains of Mourne [6] (this last was one of several written with his friend, stage partner and fellow composer, Houston Collisson). [4] The song was set to the same air as Thomas Moore's "Bendmeer's Stream" which, in turn, was adapted from the old Irish Air "Carraigdhoun". French also wrote many sketches and amusing parodies, the most famous of which is The Queen's After-Dinner Speech, written on the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit to Dublin in 1900, in which French drolly suggests "There's a slate off Willie Yeats". In addition, he wrote several poems, some he called "poems of pathos". Many of his poems and songs are on the theme of emigration. He remained a regular contributor to The Irish Cyclist, a weekly journal until his death. Emily de Burg Daly: Chronicles and Poems of Percy French, with an introduction by Katharine Tynan (Dublin: Talbot Press, 1922). Tis merely throwin' life away to face that mearin' dhrain, I'm not as bold as lions, but I'm braver nor a hin, Lowry, Bernadette (December 2021). Sounds of Manymirth on the Night's Ear Ringing: Percy French (1854-1920) His Jarvey Years and Joyce's Haunted Inkbottle. Dublin: Carmen Eblana Productions Carmeneblana.com. pp.19–20. ISBN 9 781914 488412.

The Emigrant's Letter (Cutting the Corn in Creeslough)". WeLoveDonegal.com . Retrieved 22 December 2012. The song featured on the 1958 album, The Immortal Percy French, featuring the voice of Irish tenor Brendan O'Dowda. As well as mounting several solo exhibitions of French's paintings he published several catalogues of French's watercolours. French's daughters, Joan and Ettie were regular visitors to the Oriel Gallery from the early 1970s and the gallery possesses their letters to Oliver. Peter Ustinov opened the 1986 French exhibition in the Oriel to a thronged audience. We'll forget the foolish fables that were written by Fontaine, In the pleasant time that's coming later on;Oliver Nulty (d. 2005) established the Oriel Gallery in Clare Street, Dublin in 1868, which opened with a Percy French and George Russell exhibition. Nulty promoted French from the day he opened the gallery in 1968 and mounted at least 15 solo exhibitions of French and several group shows featuring French, one opened by Peter Ustinov.

a b c De Burgh Daly, Mrs (1973). Prose, Poems and Parodies of Percy French. Dublin: Talbot Press. pp.vii–xv. ISBN 978-0-85452-107-4. Bernadette Lowry: Sounds of Manymirth on the Night's Ear Ringing. Percy French (1854-1920): His Jarvey Years and Joyce's Haunted Inkbottle; with a foreword by Dr Robert Mohr and an afterword by Martin Mansergh (Dublin: Carmen Eblana Productions, 2021). ISBN 978-1-914488-41-2, 978-1-914488-34-4 He was indeed talented in all fields, save one perhaps, his inability to garner wealth. He was a man of enormous generosity, demonstrated by the way he donated part of the fees for his performances to the Red Cross. Yet maybe this, his, “…giving with an open hand,” is not truly a flaw.This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. It is sad to think that although he is remembered and celebrated worldwide for his most famous song, ‘The Mountains of Mourne’, this one fact, is all that some people know about Percy French. It is appropriate to describe him as a great songwriter but that description only serves to scratch the surface of his genius. ‘The Mountains of Mourne,’ set to the traditional air, ‘Carrigdhoun’, has been recorded the world over by artists as diverse as Don McClean and Daniel O’Donnell. There is a Dixieland trombone version by Chris Barber, featuring Ottolie Patterson and there is even an ‘acapella’ version currently available on YouTube sung by a group called Wall Street Crash. William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) was an Irish songwriter, author, poet, entertainer and painter. Times, Irish (21–22 January 2022). "An Irishman's Diary Is Percy French the Hero of Finnegans Wake". The Irish Times. January 21 and 22 – via The Irish Times. When The Jarvey failed, French's long and successful career as a songwriter and entertainer began. He had lived by the canal in Dublin at 35 Mespil Road before going to London in 1890. He famously wrote to his friends when he moved there: "We have come to live by the canal, do drop in". A granite seat was erected in 1988 on the canal near his home, dedicated to French. It was sponsored by the Oriel Gallery and bears another witticism of French's: "Remember me is all I ask, / And if that memory proves a task, forget".

Singer Ottilie Patterson recorded it in December 1959 with Chris Barber's Jazz Band on the EP "Ottilie Swings the Irish" A sculpture of a park bench and plaque depicting his likeness by Brid Ni Rinn was installed on the spot where French was inspired to write "The Mountains of Mourne" in Red Island Park, Skerries, County Dublin, in 2008. [10]French was born at Clooneyquinn House, [1] near Tulsk, County Roscommon, the son of an Anglo-Irish landlord, Christopher French, and Susan Emma French (née Percy). He was the third of nine children. His younger sister, Emily later Emily de Burg Daly was also a writer. [2] During World War I, the song Old Gallipoli's A Wonderful Place used phrases from this song as a basis for some of its verses. Verses in the Gallipoli song include: "At least when I asked them, that's what they told me" and "Where the old Gallipoli sweeps down to the sea".

We'll cross the ditch," our leader cried, "an' take the foe in flank," But yells of consthernation here arose from every rank, In January 1920, when he was 65 years old, French became ill while performing in Glasgow. He died from pneumonia in Formby, England at the home of his cousin, Canon Richardson of Green Lea, College Avenue, on 24 January 1920. His grave is in the churchyard of St Luke's Church, Formby, Merseyside. The song is a whimsical look at the styles, attitudes and fashions of late nineteenth-century London as seen from the point of view of an emigrant labourer from a village near the Mourne Mountains. It is written as a message to the narrator's true love at home. The "sweep down to the sea" refrain was inspired by the view of the mountains from Skerries in north County Dublin. [3] It contrasts the artificial attractions of the city with the more natural beauty of his homeland.French family at Cloonyquin". Landedestates.ie. 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012 . Retrieved 22 December 2012. Emily de Burg Daly Daly: Prose, Poems and Parodies of Percy French, with an introduction by Alfred Perceval Graves (Dublin: Talbot Press, 1929; 3/1962). And only Gaelic spoken in that House in College Green. Told me landlords wor the Divil! their agints ten times worst,. French's archive currently resides in the North Down Museum, Bangor, County Down where researchers are welcome to view material by appointment with the museum. [19] Bibliography [ edit ] Find sources: "Percy French"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)