Songs Of The Irish Union Soldier 1861-65
by David Kincaid
Like many other kids of the Baby-boom generation,
I was fascinated with the American Civil War. In the early Sixties, with
the centennial celebrations and commemorations, it was everywhere to be found.
Movies, television and printed media all dealt with the subject, and it was
almost inescapable. I remember, at the age of about six, asking my Dad if
we'd had any family who fought in the war. His only reply was "I have no
idea."
That fascination never left me, and sixteen years later I would discover that my Dad's great-grandfather, James McCormick Kincaid, served as a Corporal in the 63rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, one of the hardest-fighting Yankee regiments to ever grace a battle-field.This was a stunning revelation at the time, and it was inconceivable to me that this monumental piece of family history had been all but forgotten. I decided from that point on, that I would do everything to make sure it would not be so again.
Historic interests have only a very close second only to music in my life.
Influenced largely by the great Rock n' Roll bands of the Sixties and early
Seventies, the traditional music and folk songs of Ireland and Britain, as
well as those United States, would also be a heavy influence. The first music
I can ever remember hearing was an album of Irish folk songs that my Dad,
a man very proud of his Irish heritage, played around the house.
| In 1987 my band, roots-rockers "The
Brandos," released its first album "Honor Among Thieves," with the lead-off
single being a song called "Gettysburg." Written
by songwriting partner Carl Funk and myself and
after the moving experience of visiting Gettysburg battle-field, discovering
that my ancestor had fought there, the song received national air play on
radio, and the video regular rotation on MTV. The band toured the U.S., Canada
and northern Europe extensively in 1987-88, and it was at this time that
I was made aware of the massive Civil War culture. After each show I was
approached by reenactors who wanted to talk about their units and historic
interests, and who were curious as to what compelled us to write a rock tune
about Gettysburg. One such reenactor, Garrett Hart, a radio DJ and Music
Director, relentlessly called our record label to invite me to join his unit,
Company I of the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry,
part of the famed "Irish Brigade." I found the idea to be more than a
little bit intriguing, a real chance to get inside the history I'd read so
much about, and as the unit was both Irish and from Pittsburgh, the home-town
of my Civil War ancestor, I decided to join.
|
Sgt. M.Hart, Capt. M.Kraus, Lt. G.Hart,
Pvt. D.Kincaid |
Co. I, 116th PVI, Irish Brigade
(Reenactors), |
In the reenacting community there is a wealth of colorfully talented
and knowledgeable people. From the beginning I heard songs of the period
being sung all over the camps of both sides, and I began to learn some of
these and sing them with the boys in my unit. When I asked "where are the
songs of the Irish Brigade?," the answer was that there were only a couple
that anyone knew of, and that I probably wouldn't find anymore. Needless
to say, that answer just didn't sit well, as the oral tradition of Irish
music and verse is known to have existed for a few thousand years, and the
written history is the oldest in western civilization. It seemed unlikely,
impossible actually, that the Irish would go through a conflict like this
and not leave behind a wealth of verse and song. More than 160,000 Irishmen
fought for the Union, no small amount, and the songs had to be there.
Left to right: Lt. R.Lucas, Sgt. D.Kincaid, Cpl. P.Ward, Pvt. D.Hongell, Pvt. P.O'Reilly, Pvt. C.Graham, Pvt. G.Sementelli, Pvt. Paddy Devlin, Cpl. R.Brown, Cpl. M.Finigan, Mus. A. Vandall |
In the fall of 1995, I decided to begin my research in earnest, and put together the album that I had wanted to make since first hearing the war's songs being sung by the reenactors marching into battle, and around the campfires at night. The first source for the material was a book given to me by a friend, called "Songs Of The Civil War," edited and compiled by Irwin Silber and published in 1960. Although this book had only one song of the Irish Brigade, the index, reference and source lists were invaluable assets to further research. In them were found references, some direct and some very vague,to other sources and titles about the Irish in the Civil War. Armed with some of these titles, I set out of the New York Public Library's Performing Arts Branch, and from there the search began.
Without the help of a few very skillful librarians, this project would have floundered from the onset. Once inside the New York Library, one of the librarians obligingly fed some of the titles into their computer data-base to determine whether they were in their library, or if not, in which library in the country they might be. Some of the titles were in New York, but the majority turned out to be in the Special Collections department of the John Hay Library at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island. Rosemary Cullen, the librarian-in-charge, was enthusiastic about the project and offered not only to send copies of the titles requested,but also to look for any other related titles as well. She found some classic material, and I am deeply indebted to her.
Another major source turned out to be the Armory of the 69th New York National
Guard Regiment, the oldest
army unit
in the U.S. Army, on Lexington Avenue in New York City. In 1996, the 116th
marched in the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York, and had the good fortune
of being put up to stay the night at the armory. Their collection of battle-flags
and memorabilia from the Irish Brigade in the Civil War, and the 69th in
subsequent wars, is truly staggering. Through the dim light and dirty glass
in one of their old display cases, right next to General Meagher's liquor
case, I spied two period "broadsides," or lyric sheets. This grabbed my attention
immediately, and rubbing the glass with my sleeve to get a better look, could
just make out the titles: "Meagher Is Leading The Irish Brigade" and "Pat
Murphy Of Meagher's Brigade."
The first title I had never heard of, and second I knew to be the original (complete with six verses) of a song that Silber had a condensed version in his book. I contacted the regiment's historian, Lt. Col. Ken Powers (Ret.), and told him of my project, and requested copies of the two broadsides. He was very enthusiastic to say the least, and kind enough to send the titles asked for, along with other songs and poems in his collection. The material he gave me is priceless, and my debt to him is also enormous.
Most of the material received was in the form of "songsters" (lyric books), or broadsides, both having no musical notation to speak of. Fortunately, most of the lyrics pertaining to the Irish in the Civil War were written to old Irish "airs", or melodies, and just below the title of each lyric was listed the air to which the words had been written. This gave me at least a fighting chance of finding the melody and forming a complete, singable arrangement.
The next task was to find the melodies. Some were tunes still well known to this day, such as the "Irish Jaunting Car," better known to students of the Civil War as melody of "The Bonnie Blue Flag," or "St. Patrick's Day," a "set-dance" tune still played by Irish traditional musicians. Most were fairly to very obscure, and many have been popular 135 years ago, but all but unknown today.
One tune, a jig called "Paddy's Wedding," took a year of inquiring, digging, and begging to find. Finally, in a chance meeting on plane with a traditional Irish musician, with all hope of ever finding it almost exhausted, it was suggested to me to try an organization on the Internet called "Ceolas." Through the efforts of the organization, which has compiled thousands of Celtic tunes, it is possible to feed in a title, and find in which book or collection the tune can be found, if at all. Fortunately, this title showed up in their list, and it provided the name of the book, called "Old Irish Folk Music and Songs" by P.W. Joyce, published in 1909, that had it as part of its collection. This brought me back to the New York library, where initially I was told that they had it listed, but couldn't find it-- "it may have been stolen," they said. Refusing to accept defeat, I went upstairs to their Special Collections department, and there it was.
With the book
in my hands, turning to the page and reading the title "Paddy's Wedding"
gave the feeling of having found, after year of searching, the Holy Grail.
This is typical of what was required to get the material together, and why
the most significant thing about the album is not my or the other musician's
performance of the songs, although we put everything we had into that, but
the fact that the songs are now compiled and arranged, lyric with melody,
in one collection.
Only one song, "The Irish Volunteer (No.2)," came with music notation, and this one was unusual in that it had not only the piano part written out, but a four-part vocal arrangement as well. Only two of the songs had ever been recorded before (Paddy's Lamentation and Pat Murphy Of The Irish Brigade--the condensed version of the song), and one had no melody listed at all. For that lyric (The Boys Of The Irish Brigade), an old air was used that matched the phrasing as if written for it, called "My Lodging Is On The Cold Ground," suggested by my friend Paul Uniack.
At this point I am convinced that this project is charmed, being lucky enough to get to play on it some of the finest Irish traditional musicians in the country, if not the world. After spending several months arranging the songs, and recording my performances of the Lead and Harmony Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, and Bodhran, Jerry O'Sullivan came into play the Uilleann Pipes and Tin Whistle, John Whelan the Button Accordion and Liz Knowles played the Fiddle. These musician's contributions were enormous, and it was they who provided the real Irish flavor to the album. They were encouraging about the project and excited to be involved from the start, and it was a great privilege to work with them. Also featured are Myron Bretholz - Bodhran, Bones, Randy Crafton - Bodhran, Seth Farber - Piano, Pat Kilbride - Cittern, Ernie Mendillo - Bass, Anik Oulianine - Cello, and Sue Richards - Celtic Harp. The "Gang Vocals" are by Noel Cox, Frank Giordano, Ernie Mendillo (both of The Brandos), and Paul Uniack.
With the recording nearly completed by September 1997, it was time to shop for a record company, and a firm offer from the Rykodisc label was received and accepted. Ryko has done various historic albums, thanks largely to the rare vision (especially in the record business) of Amy Guertin, and their enthusiasm for the project was immeasurable. They very willingly agreed to the extensive CD booklet, and the enlistment of great historian Joseph G. Bilby to write the liner notes. The label's very talented graphic artist, Mary Ann Southard, took the historic material I provided for the artwork and did wonders with it, very patiently allowing me "overall command" of the final results, with which I am exceedingly happy. It seems appropriate now to end this with the Irish Brigade's battle-cry: Fag An Bealac! (Clear The way!).
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Regimental Color, 63rd NYSV
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