"Down by the Glenside" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

9266, also known as "The Bold Fenian Men") is an

Irish rebel song In the music of Ireland, Irish rebel songs are folk songs which are primarily about the various rebellions against British Crown rule. Songs about prior rebellions are a popular topic of choice among musicians which supported Irish nationalis ...

written by

Peadar Kearney Peadar Kearney ( ; 12 December 1883 – 24 November 1942) was an Irish republican and composer of numerous rebel songs. In 1907 he wrote the lyrics to "A Soldier's Song" (), now the Irish national anthem. He was the uncle of Irish writers Bren ...

, an

Irish Republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

and composer of numerous rebel songs, including " The Soldier's Song" (''"Amhrán na bhFiann''"), now the Irish

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

, and "The Tri-coloured Ribbon". Kearney was a member of the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

, popularly known as the

Fenians The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centurie ...

. He wrote the song at about the time of the

1916 Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an i ...

, referring back to the earlier Fenian Rising of 1867. It evokes the memory of the freedom-fighters of the previous generation (''strong, manly forms...eyes with hope gleaming''), as recalled by an old woman ''down by the

glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. The word is Goidelic in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''glion'' in Manx. ...

side''. It is effectively a call to arms for a generation of Irishmen accustomed to political

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

Versions

Three verses to this song were sung by

Ken Curtis Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates; July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991) was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series ''Gunsmoke''. Early years Born the youngest of three boys in ...

and

The Sons of the Pioneers The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music per ...

in the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

movie ''

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

'', though the film was set in the 19th-century

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

Richard Dyer-Bennet Richard Dyer-Bennet (6 October 1913 in Leicester, England – 14 December 1991 in Monterey, Massachusetts) was an English-born American folk singer (or his own preferred term, "minstrel"), recording artist, and voice teacher. Early life He was b ...

recorded the song on his first self produced LP Richard Dyer-Bennet 1, (1955). The song became popular again in the 1960s, when it was recorded by

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularisi ...

. It has since been recorded by numerous artists, including

The Dubliners The Dubliners () were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in pers ...

Cherish The Ladies Cherish the Ladies is an American female super group that plays Celtic music. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985. It was the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in Amer ...

, Omnia,

Mary O'Hara Mary O'Hara (born 12 May 1935) is an Irish soprano and harpist from County Sligo. She gained attention on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her recordings of that period influenced a generation of Irish female singer ...

, Screaming Orphans, Jim McCann,

Harry O'Donoghue Harry O'Donoghue is an Irish musician. Childhood Harry was born in 1954 in the town of Drogheda on the banks of the river Boyne on the East coast of Ireland. Early career At age twenty, Harry began playing guitar and bodhran and was soon pe ...

, and

The Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning ...

. The song is also sung in the first episode of the BBC series ''

Days of Hope ''Days of Hope'' is a BBC television drama serial produced in 1975. The series dealt with the lives of a working-class family from the turmoils of the First World War in 1916 to the General Strike in 1926. It was written by Jim Allen, produced ...

'', written by Jim Allen and directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

. An Irish barmaid is forced to sing after being sexually harassed by British soldiers and impresses them with her song. A version of the song (Down by the Glenside) appears on

Brigid Mae Power Brigid Mae Power is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. Early life Power was born in London, England to Irish parents. Her family relocated to Ireland when she was eleven years old, where she learned to play the button accordion before ...

's 2023 album ''

Dream from the Deep Well ''Dream from the Deep Well'' is the fourth studio album by Irish folk musician Brigid Mae Power. Reception Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Marcy Donelson writing this album "is remarkably timeless-feeling a ...

''.

Lyrics

'Twas down by the glenside, I met an old woman A-plucking young nettles, she ne'er saw me coming I listened a while to the song she was humming Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men 'Tis fifty long years since I saw the moon beaming On strong manly forms, on eyes with hope gleaming I see them again, sure, in all my sad dreaming Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men. When I was a young girl, their marching and drilling Awoke in the glenside sounds awesome and thrilling They loved dear old Ireland, to die they were willing Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men. Some died by the glenside, some died near a stranger And wise men have told us their cause was a failure But they stood by old Ireland and never feared danger Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men I passed on my way, God be praised that I met her Be life long or short, sure I'll never forget her We may have brave men, but we'll never have better Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men

References

{{Authority control Irish Republican Brotherhood Irish songs Irish rebel songs