{"id":20035,"date":"2023-05-05T07:19:22","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T07:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=20035"},"modified":"2023-05-05T11:13:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T11:13:08","slug":"little-town-in-ould-county-down","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/little-town-in-ould-county-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Little town in ould County Down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Wings of a Swallow
Little town in old County Down<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1920<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Richard W Pascoe \/ Monte Carlo and Alma Sander<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN13214<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Talbot O'Farrell, others<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
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<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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[From SHEET MUSIC]\n\nSure if I had the wings of a swallow \nI would travel far over the sea\r\nThen a rocky old road I would follow \nTo a spot that is heaven to me\r\nWhen the sun goes to rest way down in the west\r\nThen I'll build such a nest in the place I love best\r\n\r\nIn that dear little town in the ould County Down\r\nIt will linger way down in my heart\r\nTho' it never was grand it is my fairy land \r\nJust a wonderful world set apart\r\nO my Ireland of dreams you are with me it seems\r\nAnd I care not for fame or renown\r\nLike the black sheep of old I'll come back to the fold\r\nLittle town in the ould County Down.<\/em>\r\n\r\nIn the evening when shadows are falling\r\n'Round the ould door without any key\r\nThere's a voice in my dreams ever calling\r\nThere are eyes ever watching for me\r\nThere is someone I bless with true tenderness\r\nAnd her lips I'll caress when I bring happiness\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the UK the song was initially associated with the singer  Talbot O’Farrell<\/a> but  it later featured in the repertoire of John McCormack and a number of other British and Irish artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song has been found in the repertoire of  traditional singers in England, Scotland and Ireland, its often known as Wings of a Swallow.. <\/em>Not to be confused with The Little Swallow <\/em>a much older Irish song collected by Edward Bunting <\/a>in approximately 1800 which starts: \u00a0I would I were a\u00a0little swallow<\/mark>, I would rise into the air and fly Away to that inconstant rover<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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