> Folk Music > Songs > The Mountains of Pomeroy

The Mountains of Pomeroy

[ Roud 37830 ; Ballad Index TST146 ; Mudcat 11458 ; George Sigerson]

Tim Eriksen sang The Mountains of Pomeroy on his 2012 album Josh Billings Voyage.

Niall Hanna sang The Mountains of Pomeroy on his 2017 album Autumn Winds. He noted:

This melody is commonly played as a march in traditional music and has become something of an anthem in County Tyrone. Dr. George Sigerson’s lyrics tell the story of a young woman and her outlawed lover, Renardine. Their relationship is frowned upon by her family, which compels her to leave her home to be with him. Her treacherous journey through a violent storm prevents the couple from being re-united.

Sandra Joyce sang The Mountains of Pomeroy on her 2023 album of songs of love and loss in the Irish tradition, Since You and I Have Been. She noted:

This song inspires much nostalgia for me, as it was one of the first tunes my daughter learned on the tin whistle and she has played it in the context of many Irish traditional groups since then. The text is by George Sigerson (1836-1925) and was adapted from an existing ballad called Rinordine or The Mountains High. The Reynardine of the song is a rapparee-type character, hiding in the mountains where “he kept the cause of freedom safe”. The metaphor of the fox implies a figure who is cunning, being hunted, and it is therefore laden with political symbolism. I particularly like the natural imagery that is so central to this song: nature provides the backdrop to the love story and the clandestine meetings of the lovers, and could be seen to symbolise freedom from tyranny. But nature also has a dangerous and unpredictable side in this story, causing the death of the young woman, who drowns during a storm. For me, the text resonates with the climate crisis in its referencing of storms, flooding, displacement. Here, water is both essential to survival and is itself a killer. There are so many themes to be explored within this song, not least the fact that the lovers come from different communities and came together in defiance of resistance from her family. Despite the tragic ending, there is a sense of resilience and agency within the song that particularly appeals to me.

Lyrics

The Mountains of Pomeroy (from Mudcat )

The morn was breaking bright and fair,
The lark sang in the sky,
When the maid she bound her golden hair,
With a blithe glance in her eye;
For, who beyond the gay green-wood,
Was a-waiting her with joy,
Oh, who but her gallant Renardine,
On the mountains of Pomeroy.

An outlawed man in a land forlorn,
He scorned to turn and fly,
But kept the cause of freedom safe
Up on the mountains high.

Full often in the dawning hour,
Full oft in twilight brown
He met the maid in the woodland bow’r,
Where the stream comes foaming down
For they were faithful in a love
No wars could e’er destroy.
No tyrant’s law touched Renardine,
On the mountains of Pomeroy.

“Dear love,” she said, “I’m sore afraid,
For the foeman’s force and you
They’ve tracked you in the lowland plain
And all the valley through.
My kinsmen frown when you are named
Your life they would destroy
‘Beware,’ they say, ‘of Renardine,
On the mountains of Pomeroy.’ ”

“Fear not, fear not, sweetheart,” he cried,
“Fear not the foe for me
No chain shall fall, whate’er betide,
On the arm that would be free!
Oh, leave your cruel kin and come,
When the lark is in the sky.
And it’s with my gun I’ll guard you,
On the mountains of Pomeroy.”

The morn has come, she rose and fled
From her cruel kin and home;
And bright the wood, and rosy red,
And the dumbling torrent’s foam.
But the mist came down and the tempest roared,
And did all around destroy;
And a pale, drowned bride met Renardine,
On the mountains of Pomeroy.