"Claudy Banks", in Gaelic "Bruach an Chladaigh", also known as "The Plain of
Boccarough", "Portaferry Boys" or "The Roving Galway Boy" is an Irish air in 2/4 or 4/4
time in F Major (O'Sullivan/Bunting) or D Dorian (O'Neill, Stanford/Petrie), D Major
(Stanford/Petrie) or, in this case, G major. The parts are played: one part (O'Neill,
Stanford/Petrie) or AABBC (O'Sullivan/Bunting).
Claudy is a village on the right bank of a small stream called the Faughan, which rises in the Sperrin mountains and flows into the River Foyle just before it enters Lough Foyle in County Londonderry. Claudy Banks belongs to a group of songs known as "Broken Token Ballads". Quite often the "token" has disappeared from the text (as here) but it is usually a ring which was broken and each of the lovers kept half while the young man went off to war. He comes back in disguise and attempts to test his lover's fidelity. When he has done so and she proves constant he reveals himself. It was printed in O'Neill's Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies (1903) and Stanford/Petrie's Complete Collection (1905). Steve Roud included "Claudy Banks" in The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs (2012). It is the Roud Folk Song Index as #266. The Young Tradition sang "Banks of Claudy" on their debut album of 1966 The Young Tradition. "Claudy Banks" is one of the best-known songs from the repertoire of the Copper Family. They sang it in a recording made by Peter Kennedy at Cecil Sharp House that was published in 1960 on A Pinch of Salt and later on their albums A Song for Every Season (1971), Coppersongs: A Living Tradition (1988) and Coppersongs 3: The Legacy Continues (1998). The version given here is the melody used by the Coppers and The Young Tradition. The Second Suite in F for Military Band (Op. 28, No. 2) is Gustav Holst's second and last suite for concert band. Movement 1 is March: "Morris dance" ("Glorishears"), "Swansea Town", "Claudy Banks". |