The Parting Glass
"The Parting Glass" is a Scottish traditional song, often sung at the end of a gathering of friends.[1][2][3][4][5] It has also long been sung in Ireland, where it remains popular and has strongly influenced how it is often sung today.[3] It was purportedly the most popular parting song sung in Scotland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne".[1][5]
History
Referent
The "parting glass", or "stirrup cup", was the final hospitality offered to a departing guest. Once they had mounted, they were presented one final drink to fortify them for their travels. The custom was practised in several continental countries.[6]
Text
The earliest known printed version was as a
Exact lyrics vary between arrangements, but they include most, if not all, of the following stanzas appearing in different orders:[citation needed][9][10]
Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm I've ever done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To mem'ry now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all
So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate’er befall,
And gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They'd wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
If I had money enough to spend
And leisure time to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in this town
That sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips
I own she has my heart in thrall
Then fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all.
A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl
And perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ought to be
By a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all
(The final verse is the first verse in the Scots version.)
Tune
The earliest known appearance of the tune today associated with this text is as a fiddle tune called "The Peacock", included in James Aird's A Selection of Scots, English, Irish and Foreign Airs in 1782.[11][12][13]
Robert Burns referred to the air in 1786 as "Good night, and joy be wi' ye a'." when using it to accompany his Masonic lyric "The Farewell. To the brethren of St. James's Lodge, Tarbolton".[14][15]
In 1800–1802, the song was incorrectly attributed to Joseph Haydn by Sigismund von Neukomm (1778-1858), who entered it in the Hoboken catalogue as "Good night and joy be wi' ye. Hob XXXIa 254. Mi mineur",[16] which text has been wrongly attributed to Sir Alexander Boswell (1775-1822).
Patrick Weston Joyce, in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909), gives the tune with a different text under the name "Sweet Cootehill Town," noting, "The air seems to have been used indeed as a general farewell tune, so that—from the words of another song of the same class—it is often called 'Good night and joy be with you all.'"[17] The celebrated Irish folk song collector Colm Ó Lochlainn has taken note of this identity of melodies between "The Parting Glass" and "Sweet Cootehill Town".[18] "Sweet Cootehill Town" is another traditional farewell song, this time involving a man leaving Ireland to go to America.
The tune appeared, with sacred lyrics, in 19th century American tunebooks. "Shouting Hymn" in
This form of the song is still widely sung by Sacred Harp singers under the title "Clamanda".Irish and North American influence
Dr Lori Watson, a lecturer in Scottish Ethnology at the University of Edinburgh states that it’s difficult to fully trace the origins of many traditional songs: Although it currently seems that Scotland has evidence of the earliest published melody and several beautiful song variants, the popular Parting Glass currently in circulation has strong Irish and North American influences to thank.[22]
In regard to a modern version by Irish musician
Modern adaptations
"The Parting Glass" was re-introduced to mid-20th century audiences by the recordings and performances of
The song "
In 1998, the traditional words were set to a new, different melody (reminiscent of
At the request of Margaret Atwood, to end her guest-edited edition of BBC Radio 4's Today programme with the song, a version by singer Karine Polwart and pianist Dave Milligan was commissioned.[4]
References
- ^ a b c "The Parting Glass". Contemplator.com. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ "The parting Glass was popular in Ireland and Scotland". 14 June 2013.
- ^ a b Hanberry, Gerard (24 April 2019). "The Parting Glass". RTÉ.
- ^ a b "Best of Today - Margaret Atwood's Today programme - BBC Sounds". 31 December 2020. 50:27 minutes in.
- ^ a b "BBC Radio 4 - Soul Music, The Parting Glass". BBC.
- .
- ^ George Grove and John Alexander Fuller-Maitland. (1908.) Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The Macmillan Company, p. 479.
- ^ George MacDonald Fraser. (1995.) Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers, Harper Collins, London, pp. 140–143.
- ^ "The Parting Glass Lyrics". www.lyrics.com. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- ^ "Digital Tradition - Parting Glass Lyrics and Chords". The Mudcat Cafe. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- OCLC 43221159.
- ^ a b c Kloss, Jürgen (3 March 2012). "Some Notes On The History Of "The Parting Glass"". Just Another Tune: Songs and Their History. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ Aird 1782 at IMSLP, p. 6.
- .
- .
- ^ "[Good night and joy be wi' ye. Hob XXXIa 254. Mi mineur] anglais". Catalogue Général. bnf.fr.
- ^ "Old Irish folk music and songs : a collection of 842 Irish airs and songs, hitherto unpublished". London : Longmans, Green. 2 May 1909 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ O Lochlainn, Colm. Irish Street Ballads, Pan, 1978, p. 225
- ^ "Shouting Hymn". 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012.
- ^ "Prof. Warren Steel's page".
- ^ ""Clamanda" in The Sacred Harp (1991 revision)".
- ^ a b Crae, Ross. "The Parting Glass: Singer Karine Polwart on an enduring anthem of loss and hope after recording new version for Margaret Atwood".
- ^ Biege, Bernd (3 March 2019). "The Parting Glass". Tripsavvy.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ "Top LP's". Billboard. Vol. 75, no. 51. 21 December 1963. p. 10.