Little town in ould County Down

AKA Wings of a Swallow
Little town in old County Down
First Published 1920
Writer/composer Richard W Pascoe / Monte Carlo and Alma Sander Roud RN13214

Music Hall Performers Talbot O'Farrell, others
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Keeping Family; England : London 1930s – 1950s
Turriff, Jean; Scotland : Aberdeenshire; 1971
Knights, Jimmy (‘Holy Jim’); England : Suffolk; 1974
Smith, Levi; England : Surrey; 1974
Smith, Phoebe; England : Suffolk; 1976
Doughty, Johnny; England : Sussex; 1979
Cassidy, Nan / Cassidy, Kitty; Ireland; 2012
Black, Freda; England : Hampshire; 2012		 

[From SHEET MUSIC]

Sure if I had the wings of a swallow 
I would travel far over the sea
Then a rocky old road I would follow 
To a spot that is heaven to me
When the sun goes to rest way down in the west
Then I'll build such a nest in the place I love best

In that dear little town in the ould County Down
It will linger way down in my heart
Tho' it never was grand it is my fairy land 
Just a wonderful world set apart
O my Ireland of dreams you are with me it seems
And I care not for fame or renown
Like the black sheep of old I'll come back to the fold
Little town in the ould County Down.

In the evening when shadows are falling
'Round the ould door without any key
There's a voice in my dreams ever calling
There are eyes ever watching for me
There is someone I bless with true tenderness
And her lips I'll caress when I bring happiness

A song from the 1920s when many of the songs sung in the British Halls were imported from America – this one was written by Cornish-born Richard W Pascoe(1888-1968) who also wrote That Tumble-Down Shack in Athlone.

In the UK the song was initially associated with the singer Talbot O’Farrell but it later featured in the repertoire of John McCormack and a number of other British and Irish artists.

The song has been found in the repertoire of traditional singers in England, Scotland and Ireland, its often known as Wings of a Swallow.. Not to be confused with The Little Swallow a much older Irish song collected by Edward Bunting in approximately 1800 which starts:  I would I were a little swallow, I would rise into the air and fly Away to that inconstant rover.

Sources: