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The Flower of Magherally

[ Roud 3009 ; Henry H220 ; Ballad Index HHH220 ; DT FLWRMAGH ; Mudcat 5880 , 51331 ; trad.]

Gale Huntington: Sam Henry’s Songs of the People Sean O Boyle: The Irish Song Tradition Colm O Lochlainn: Irish Street Ballads

Frank Harte sang The Flower of Magherally in a session recorded by Bill Leader in 1967. It was published in 1973 on his Topic album Through Dublin City. He noted:

A song from Ulster. I had the words in a booklet printed by the Derry Journal, long before I heard it sung. When I eventually heard it I was delighted at the way the words and the air so well suited each other. I find myself turning more and more to the songs from Ulster, on account of their great variety of themes and the beautiful airs so apparent in their love songs.

The Boys of the Lough sang The Flower of Magherally on their 1975 Transatlantic live album, III. They noted:

It is part of the local pride in every Irish townland to boast that it produces the finest men and the loveliest women in the world. The Flower of Magherally is one of these surpassingly beautiful women and she comes from the County Down, near the town of Banbridge. The tune, here sung by Cathal [McConnell], can be found in The Irish Song Book, edited and arranged by Redmond Friel, 1957 (Paterson’s Publications Ltd., Wigmore St., London W1). See also Irish Street Ballads, Part I (O Lochlainn, Three Candles Press, Dublin) where the words are set to a different air.

Sinéad Caher sang The Flower of Magherally O in 1978 as the title track of her Mulligan album Flower of Magherally. Cathal O Boyle noted:

Here is an example of a song well tied down to a single parish. Sometimes you can change one place name for another and transport a song from one end of the country to another. You would find you had a great deal of changing to do before you could steal this song from County Down. You could not take it out of the Gaelic tradition unless you removed the internal rhymes in the verse about Adam and Eve.

Anni Fentiman sang The Flower of Magherally in 1993 on her and Dave Webber’s album Together Solo. They noted:

This song was learned from Kevin Mitchell, a wonderful singer originally from Derry now living in Glasgow.

Óige, with a very young Cara Dillon, sang The Flower of Magherally, O! on their 1993 album Live in Glasgow. This track was also included in 1995 on the Mrs Casey anthology Evolving Tradition.

Niamh Parsons sang The Flower of Magherally O in 1999 on her Green Linnet album Blackbirds & Thrushes. A recording from the Marine Hall, Fleetwood, Lancashire, during the Fylde Folk Festival 2005 was released in 2005 on her CD Live at Fylde. She noted on the first album:

I learned this from Gillian Coyne from Liverpool in the early Eighties and have sung it live with every band I’ve ever performed with, but it has taken until now to put it on record. Sinéad Caher from Belfast recorded it on her Flower of Magherally LP. It is apparently associated with the Pruntys; Pat Prunty moved to England and changed his name to Bronte and had three famous daughters.

This is a video of Niamh Parsons of unknown origin that was published on Youtube in 2011:

Mick Coyne sang My Flower of Magherally on Ron Kavana and Friends’s 2011 album 40 Favourite Folk Songs.

Andy Turner learned The Flower of Magherally from the Boys of the Lough songbook (Music and Songs From the Boys of the Lough, Gilderoy Music, 1977) and sang it as the 20 June 2014 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.

Bróna McVittie sang The Flower of Magherally on her 2018 album We Are the Wildlife. She noted:

A lesser-heard folk song from County Down included by Jackie Boyce in his book Songs From the County Down after Cathal McConnell’s version. Magherally is a small townland near Banbridge.

Julie Abbé sang Flower of Magherally on her 2020 album Numberless Dreams. She noted:

I first heard this tune sung by a 10-year old girl at the Fleadh in Drogheda in summer 2018. She totally blew me away. I then learnt it from the band Pure Irish Drops and mixed the second and third verses together. Thanks to Amy [Cox] for creating this gorgeous harmony.

Lyrics

Niamh Parsons sings The Flower of Magherally O

One pleasant summer’s morning when all the flowers were blooming O
Nature was adorning and the wee birds they were singing O
I met my love near Bambridge Town, my charming blue eyed Sally O
She is the Queen of the County Down, my Flower of Magherally O

With admiration I did gaze upon that blue eyed Lassie O
Adam never had so much joy, when he saw Eve in Eden O
Her skin was like the lily white, that blooms in yonder garden O
She is my queen and my heart’s delight, my Flower of Magherally O

Her yellow hair in ringlets hung, her boots of Spanish leather O
Her bonnet with blue ribbons on, her scarlet scarf and feather O
Like Venus bright she did appear, my charming blue eyed Sally O
She is the girl that I love dear, my Flower of Magherally O

And I hope the day will surely come, when we’ll join hands together O
It’s then I’ll bring my true love home, in spite of wind and weather O
And let them all say what they will, and let them reel and rally O
For I will wed the girl I love, my Flower of Magherally O.

Bróna McVittie sings The Flower of Magherally

One pleasant summer’s morning when all the flowers were springing O
Nature was adorning and the birds were sweetly singing O
I met my love near Banbridge town, my charming blue eyed Sally O
She’s the Queen of the County Down, she’s the Flower of Magherally O

With admiration I did gaze upon this blue-eyed maiden O
Adam wasn’t half so pleased when he met Eve in Eden O
Her skin was like the lily white that grows in yonder valley O
She’s my queen and my heart’s delight, the Flower of Magherally O

Like Venus bright she did appear, my charming blue-eyed Sally O
She’s the girl that I love dear, the Flower of Magherally O

I hope the day will surely come, when we’ll join hands together O
And I’ll bring home the one I love, in spite of wind and weather O
And let them all say what they will, let them reel and rally O
I will wed the girl I love, the Flower of Magherally O