Raglan Road
[ Roud - ; DT RAGLANRD ; Mudcat 29901 , 61810 ; words Patrick Kavanagh (1905-67), music trad.]
Dick Gaughan sang Patrick Kavanagh’s song Raglan Road in 1977 on his Highway/Trailer album Kist o’ Gold. He noted on his now defunct website:
Learned from Al O’Donnell. I decided to sing this after Al took me on a tour of Dublin pubs, searching for the perfect pint of stout, which turned into a detailed explanation of all the references in the poem. If you want to understand any piece of Dublin literature (especially Joyce) get a native Dubliner to take you on a pub-crawl. The tune is Dawning of the Day which I believe is Scottish although this is disputed by Irish singers.
and:
I learned this originally from Al O’Donnell on a pub-crawl looking for the best pint of stout in Dublin. Over the years of singing there has inevitably been the odd change of a word or a note here and there—they call it “The Folk Process”.
Boys of the Lough sang On Raglan Road in 1983 on their Topic album Open Road. They noted:
Written by Monaghan poet Patrick Kavanagh (1905-1967) to be sung to the air The Dawning of the Day, this song has achieved a recent popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.
Cockersdale sang Raglan Road in 1994 on their Fellside album Been Around for Years. They noted:
This is a song that John [O’Hagan] and Val [Marsden] have been singing for a number of years. It is one of the few songs about the condition of love that the group sings.
Martin and Jessica Simpson sang Raglan Road on their 1995 album Band of Angels.
John Wright sang Raglan Road on his 1999 album A Few Short Lines. He noted:
The words of this song were written by the Monaghan poet Patrick Kavanagh (1905-67) and set to the beautiful Irish air, The Dawning of the Day which appears in Joyce’s Ancient Irish Music published in 1912.
Maurice Condie sang Raglan Road on his and Gillian Tolfrey’s 2005 album Balanced Books. He noted:
This song was recorded and popularised by Luke Kelly of the Dubliners in the 1960s, The words, written by Paddy Kavanagh, were set to the traditional air Fáinne Geal an Lae (The Dawning of the Day). This poem was first published in 1946 under the name Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away.
(Gillian:) Good on her.
Al O’Donnell sang Raglan Road on his 2008 album Ramble Away.
Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar sang On Raglan Road in 2012 on their Fellside album The Queen’s Lover. Greg Russell noted:
Our producer, Paul Adams, told me that one of his favourite singers was Luke Kelly, and drew my attention to this song. I decided to check out Mr Kelly and after watching a documentary on him and hearing his version, I decided I definitely wanted it on the album. A poem by Patrick (Paddy) Kavanagh set to a great traditional tune.
Ian Bruce and Noel Rocks sang Raglan Road on Bruce’s 2023 album Together Forever.
Lyrics
Dick Gaughan sings Raglan Road
On Raglan Road on an August day I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, Let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the true worth of passion’s pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay –
O I loved too much and by such, by such is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that’s known
To the artist who has seen the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint, I did not stint for I gave her poems to say,
With her own name there and her long dark hair like clouds over fields of May.
On a quiet street where the old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay –
When the angel woos the clay he’d lose his wings at the dawn of day.
Cockersdale sing Raglan Road
On Raglan Road on an August day I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, still I walked along the enchanted way
And I said, Let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the true worth of passion’s pledge,
The Queen of Heart’s still making tarts and I not making hay –
I loved too much and by such, by such is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that’s known
To the artist who has seen the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint, I did not stint I gave her poems to say,
With her own name there and her long dark hair like clouds o’er fields of May.
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly as reason must allow
That I had woo’ed not as I should a creature made of clay –
When the angel woos the clay he’ll lose his wings at the dawn of day.