Jane Turriff:
This Irish song was first recorded by John MacCormack, under its title That Little Town in the Old County Down on June 17th, 1921, shortly after its publication. Its authors were Richard Pascoe, Alma Saunders and Monte Carlo (surely a pseudonym). Jane's version comes from the singing of her faither's sisters, Helen and Elizabeth.
Jane: Nellie and I really ken the history o the sang; they're too precious tae forget, songs like 'at, when ye hiv them the aul fashiont wey. Ye got the true wey o't, cause I jist learnt aff ma mither an ma grannie, ye see. An they wid hae hid the aul style o't, ye see. An I sup¬pose they jist heard it an as fae the traiv'llers. They heard it an 'en I heard it aff o them; generations an generations, the Bangs keep goin. An this travellers, ye know, they were aye singin.
The Wings of a Swallow
1: For if I had the wings of a swallow,
I would travel for many's a mile.
And the dear rocky roads I would follow,
To a land that seems dearer to me.
2: When the sun goes to rest,
I'll be way down on the west
I'll build a sweet little nest in the place I love best,
Sure it lingers away down in ma heart,
Though it never wis grand, it wis my fairy-land,
Just a wonderful world set apart
3: Like my island of dreams, I'll be with you it seems
And I care not for fame or foe.
Just like the black sheep of old, I'll return to the fold
To the little town in that old County Down.
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Jane: Ye jist think that quine's tellin him for his ain good. Sad an aa, is it? "Nor come I here tae pairt ma land." I put action in't, 'at's the wey it should be! A good song that; you niver hear that songs nowadays. I won with singin it at Kinross (TMSA, Kinross Traditional Music Festival, 1977).
Recorded by Peter Cooke at the Kinross Festival1971.
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Traditional arranged Jane Turriff Springthyme Records © 1996.
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