Songs of Percy French

Product Information

Emily de Burg Daly: Chronicles and Poems of Percy French, with an introduction by Katharine Tynan (Dublin: Talbot Press, 1922).

We'll forget the foolish fables that were written by Fontaine, In the pleasant time that's coming later on; Beyond the manifold mathematical, musical, sporting, artistic, journalistic and poetic talents of Percy French lay a deeper talent, the ability to empathise with people, irrespective of whether they were in elevated and lofty positions or were simply the common man in the street or field. His ability to see through the decorum and propriety of late 19th Century society and discern its absurdities enabled him to parody this behaviour, always with humour, sometimes gently and at other times acerbic yet never with vulgar ridicule. Through his entire career he also demonstrated the greatest talent any entertainer could wish for, the unique gift of making audiences love him. Ye preferred the soldier's maxim when desisting from the strife "Best be a coward for five minutes than a dead man all your life."French was renowned for composing and singing comic songs and gained considerable distinction with such songs as Phil the Fluther's Ball, [5] Slattery's Mounted Foot, and The Mountains of Mourne [6] (this last was one of several written with his friend, stage partner and fellow composer, Houston Collisson). [4] The song was set to the same air as Thomas Moore's "Bendmeer's Stream" which, in turn, was adapted from the old Irish Air "Carraigdhoun". French also wrote many sketches and amusing parodies, the most famous of which is The Queen's After-Dinner Speech, written on the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit to Dublin in 1900, in which French drolly suggests "There's a slate off Willie Yeats". In addition, he wrote several poems, some he called "poems of pathos". Many of his poems and songs are on the theme of emigration. He remained a regular contributor to The Irish Cyclist, a weekly journal until his death.

Find sources: "Percy French"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Singer-songwriter Don McLean recorded a version titled Mountains o' Mourne on Playin' Favorites in 1973, which reached number two on the Irish Singles Chart, [4] and appears on several of his "Greatest Hits" collections. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. A popular sung version by Brendan O'Dowda adds the following lyrics which may or may not have been part of the original: It is sad to think that although he is remembered and celebrated worldwide for his most famous song, ‘The Mountains of Mourne’, this one fact, is all that some people know about Percy French. It is appropriate to describe him as a great songwriter but that description only serves to scratch the surface of his genius. ‘The Mountains of Mourne,’ set to the traditional air, ‘Carrigdhoun’, has been recorded the world over by artists as diverse as Don McClean and Daniel O’Donnell. There is a Dixieland trombone version by Chris Barber, featuring Ottolie Patterson and there is even an ‘acapella’ version currently available on YouTube sung by a group called Wall Street Crash.Ettie French: Willie: A Tribute to Percy French (Holywood, County Down: Percy French Society, 1994). French's archive currently resides in the North Down Museum, Bangor, County Down where researchers are welcome to view material by appointment with the museum. [19] Bibliography [ edit ] The lyrics to the song The Mountains of Mourne (originally spelt The Mountains o' Mourne) were written by Irish musician Percy French (1854–1920). The music was adapted by Houston Collisson (1865–1920) from the traditional Irish folk tune "Carrigdonn" or "Carrigdhoun". [1] [2] The latter had been similarly used by Thomas Moore (1779–1852) for his song Bendemeer's Stream. In January 1920, when he was 65 years old, French became ill while performing in Glasgow. He died from pneumonia in Formby, England at the home of his cousin, Canon Richardson of Green Lea, College Avenue, on 24 January 1920. His grave is in the churchyard of St Luke's Church, Formby, Merseyside.