The Croppy Boy
"The Croppy Boy" is an Irish ballad set in 1798 rising relating to the despair of a doomed young "croppy" or rebel.
Broadside versions
Versions of the ballad first appeared shortly after the rising sung by street pedlars and there are several broadside songs printed. These typically include the phrase "500 Guineas" or "one thousand pounds", and are also sung to the tune of the old Irish air Cailín Óg a Stór. They may be the basis for the later ballad, Lady Franklin's Lament.
Malone version
A version by Carroll Malone first appeared in the Irish newspaper The Nation in 1845 and concerns a fictional young man who stops in a church on his way to fight. He sees a cloaked figure in a confessional and kneels for the penitential rite. The figure is actually a British officer who sought refuge from the rebels by hiding in the confessional. After the youth completes his confession, the officer reveals himself and proceeds to arrest the youth. The legend is the subject of Canadian artist Charlotte Schreiber's painting The Croppy Boy (The Confession of an Irish Patriot), now on display in the National Gallery of Canada.
References
- Music in James Joyce's works
- Croppy Boy (Version II) by Carroll Malone
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- The Wind that Shakes the Barley
- The Rising of the Moon
- Kelly from Killanne
- Boolavogue
- The Wearing of the Green
- The Croppy Boy
- The Boys of Wexford
- Come All You Warriors
- Tone's Grave
- Amhrán na bhFiann
- Come Out, Ye Black and Tans
- The Foggy Dew
- Down by the Glenside (The Bold Fenian Men)
- The Boys of the Old Brigade
- The Valley of Knockanure
- Tri-Colored Ribbon
- The Broad Black Brimmer
- Rifles of the IRA
- Who Is Ireland's Enemy?
- Man from the Daily Mail
- Grand Old Dame Britannia
- Erin Go Bragh
- Kevin Barry
- Johnston's Motor Car
- Pat of Mullingar
- Banna Strand
- Dying Rebel
- Take It Down from the Mast
- The Patriot Game
- Sean South from Garryowen