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The Brown and the Yellow Ale

[ Roud 41143 ; Ballad Index Hart080 ; DT BRWNYEL2 , BRWNYLLW ; Mudcat 27464 , 94355 ; trad.]

The Voice Squad sang The Brown and the Yellow Ale on their 1992 album Holly Wood (later reissued as Good People All). This track was also included in 1994 on the Living Tradition anthology Celtic Connections. Frank Harte noted:

The first person I heard singing this song was the late Dominic Behan. Dominic claimed that it was a free translation by the poet, James Stephens, from a song in Irish called Chuaca Lán De Buí. This song was a particular favourite of James Joyce.

Mick Flynn sang The Brown & Yellow Ale in 2011 on Ron Kavana and Friend’s album 40 Favourite Folk Songs.

Lyrics

The Voice Squad sing The Brown and the Yellow Ale

As I walked down the road one fine summers morning,
    O the brown and the yellow ale
I met with a young man without any warning
    O love of my heart

He asked me if the woman by my side was my daughter
    O the brown and the yellow ale
When I said she’s my wife his manner didn’t alter
    O love of my heart

He asked me if I’d lend her for an hour and a day,
    O the brown and the yellow ale
I said, “If she thinks that’s fine you may take her away.”
    O love of my heart

“Then you take the high road and I’ll be off with her
    O the brown and the yellow ale
And I’ll meet you again by the ford of the river.”
    O love of my heart

I waited by that ford for an hour and a quarter
    O the brown and the yellow ale
And when she came to me, ’twas without shame I saw her.
    O love of my heart

When she told me her story, sure I lay down and died,
    O the brown and the yellow ale
She sent two men for timber, and she never even cried.
    O love of my heart

A board of elder and a board of holly,
    O the brown and the yellow ale
And three great yards of a shroud all about me.
    O love of my heart

If my own little mother, she had never been a woman,
    O the brown and the yellow ale
I would tell you many’s another tale about women.
    O love of my heart