The Holy Ground
Jul 27th, 2008 by oldfogey
When I first went to University in 1964, I immediately joined the “Ballad and Blues” Club. It was actually a folk club, but the title was I suppose, meant to show wider sympathies. There I got to see Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Guy Carawan, the Liverpool Spinners (rather good but somewhat disdained later for their commercialism), the Clancy Brothers and more. Tony Rose was a stalwart of the club at the time.
One of the popular songs at the time was the Irish song “The Holy Ground”. This usually came in after “The Whiskey in the Jar” or some other roaring song, to lower the temperature. Like all the best Irish songs, it’s about longing for home - always the exile’s holy ground - here through the eyes of a girl longing for her lover to return from sea.
Here’s Mary Black singing it.
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Jeez, OF: I hate to disillusion you but this is the Cork National Anthem, or close to it, after the “Banks of My Own Lovely Lee”. “Holy Ground”, in my experience has always been sung to a rollicking, yelling, stomping beat (’fine girl y’are’ roared at the top of the lungs throughout!). Mary puts a lovely spin on it. I met her a couple of times, she is such a warm person, and I love her voice. thanks for this version! XO WWW
WWW - Just shows you doesn’t. I remember it slow - like Mary Black’s version. Perhaps crossing the Irish Sea slowed it down. Regards OF