tune page
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye (#69)
Found in 0069.abc
from the John Chambers' music books abc collection
X: 19 T:Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye (#69) M:6/8 L:1/8 S:Capt. F. O'Neill R:March K:C A/2G/2|E2 A A2 B|c2 B c2 A|G3-G2 E|G3-G2 A|E2 A A2 B|c2 B c2 d| e3-e2 c|e3-e2 c/2d/2|e2 e edc|d2 d dcB|c2 c cBA|B2 B GBd| e2 e d2 d|c2 c BAG|EAA A2 ^G|A3-A2 B|c2 E EGE|G2 E EGE| AGA c2 d|e3-e2 c/2d/2|ege d2 B|cBA B2 ^G|EAA A2 ^G|A3-A2|| % % Classed as a street ballad in "Halliday Sparling's Irish Minstrelsy % London 1887" the editor adds, in a note on page 366, % "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye ! This favorite old song % is here for the first time given complete. It dates from % the beginning of the present century (19th), when % Irish regiments were so extensively raised for the % East India service." % This spirited air almost forgotten in Ireland blossomed into new % popularity during the American Civil War, and, after its arrangement % by a master hand - Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore - it became a great % favorite with military and volunteer bands. Parodies on the original % song such as "When Johnny comes marching home again", % "Johnny fill up the bowl" etc., were sung to it by the Union soldiers. % After the manner of the "Loobeens" and occupational songs of % olden days in Ireland, additional verses were improvised, some % possibly crude, yet always mirth-provoking, and well-calculated to % keep up their spirits on the march, or relieve the monotony of %camp life. The circumstance of its arrangement as above stated % no doubt led Adair FitzGerald to refer to it in his "Stories of % Famous Songs" in qualified words: % "When Johnny comes marching home again, said to % have been composed by the celebrated Patrick S. % Gilmore. % The latter, a native of Dublin quite probably had memorized the % tune in his youth. The original, it may be observed, included a % refrain of four lines not found in the parodies.
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