"Macushla" is the title of an Irish song that was
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
ed in 1910, with music by Dermot Macmurrough (
Harold R. White
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts ...
) and
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer ...
by Josephine V. Rowe.
The title is a
transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
of the
Irish ''mo chuisle'', meaning "my
pulse" as used in the phrase ''a chuisle mo chroí'', which means "pulse of my heart", and thus mo chuisle has come to mean "darling" or "sweetheart".
Utilisations in music
"Macushla" became the signature tune in the 1912 musical ''Macushla'' by
Chauncey Olcott.
The song was recorded by a number of operatic tenors including
John McCormack,
James McCracken, Christian Ketter,
Kenneth McKellar and Josef Locke.
Utilisations in movies
* 1945: In ''
Christmas in Connecticut'', starring
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
, the cow was called Macushla.
* 1996: The song was used in the historical drama,
Michael Collins.
* 2004: In ''
Million Dollar Baby'', trainer Frankie has "Mo Chuisle" embroidered on the silks of boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (
Hilary Swank) for her first overseas fight, and it is subsequently chanted by the various crowds in the film numerous times.
References
{{reflist
Irish songs