My darling sleeps in England across the Irish Sea
While I who loved him dearly shall mourn him bitterly
Shall mourn him night and morning and miss him from my sight,
For in the town of Birmingham my husband Danny died.
The times came hard upon us, my children three and I,
My husband rose one morning with a teardrop in his eyes.
He tied his poor belongings and kissed me tenderly,
Sating "Fare you well my darling for I'll cross the Irish Sea.
Each week from English cities a letter came to me
Saying Darling wife how do you fare, likewise your children three?
And when at night you're on your knees to say the rosary,
Remember then your loving Dan who's across the Irish Sea.
I wrote him back a letter and I said "My darling Dan,
Young Pat is now a sturdy child and Tom is near a man,
And Flora looks into my eyes and whispers tenderly,
God send my daddy safely back from across the Irish Sea.
One evening I was at my work and a knock came to the door;
My heart stood still for I knew that sound some evil to me bore,
And then the bitter tidings I heard most mournfully,
That the cruel bombs had murdered Dan far across the Irish Sea.
While I who loved him dearly shall mourn him bitterly
Shall mourn him night and morning and miss him from my sight,
For in the town of Birmingham my husband Danny died.
The times came hard upon us, my children three and I,
My husband rose one morning with a teardrop in his eyes.
He tied his poor belongings and kissed me tenderly,
Sating "Fare you well my darling for I'll cross the Irish Sea.
Each week from English cities a letter came to me
Saying Darling wife how do you fare, likewise your children three?
And when at night you're on your knees to say the rosary,
Remember then your loving Dan who's across the Irish Sea.
I wrote him back a letter and I said "My darling Dan,
Young Pat is now a sturdy child and Tom is near a man,
And Flora looks into my eyes and whispers tenderly,
God send my daddy safely back from across the Irish Sea.
One evening I was at my work and a knock came to the door;
My heart stood still for I knew that sound some evil to me bore,
And then the bitter tidings I heard most mournfully,
That the cruel bombs had murdered Dan far across the Irish Sea.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2018/1/2 - 11:32
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Una canzone raccolta nella Contea di Leitrim, Irlanda, dal giornalista, musicista e ricercatore folklorico britannico Karl Frederick Dallas (1931-2016), che la incluse nella sua raccolta “The Cruel Wars: 100 soldiers' songs from Agincourt to Ulster”, pubblicata nel 1972 (qui i titoli contenuti)
Sulla melodia della tradizionale “The Boston Burglar”
Testo trovato su Mudcat Café
Credo che la canzone si riferisca ai prolungati bombardamenti tedeschi su Birmingham e dintorni, avvenuti tra il 1940 ed il 1943 durante la cosiddetta “Battaglia d’Inghilterra”.