The Wearing of the Green
What will you be wearing this St Patrick's Day?
The Dear Little Shamrock
There's a dear little plant that grows in our Isle,Andrew Cherry (1762-1812),
'Twas Saint Patrick himself sure that set it;
And the sun on his labour with pleasure did smile,
And with dew from his eye often wet it.
It shines thro' the bog thro' the brake, thro' the mireland,
And he call'd it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland.
The dear little Shamrock, the sweet little Shamrock,
The dear little, sweet little Shamrock of Ireland.
That dear little plant still grows in our land,
Fresh and fair as the daughters of Erin,
Whose smiles can bewitch, and whose eyes can command,
In each climate they ever appear in:
For they shine thro' the bog, thro' the brake, and the mireland,
Just like their own dear little Shamrock of Ireland.
That dear little plant that springs from our soil,
When its three little leaves are extended,
Denotes from the stalk we together should toil,
And ourselves by ourselves be befriended.
And still thro' the bog, thro' the brake, and the mireland,
From one root should branch, like the Shamrock of Ireland.
Limerick bookseller, playwright and actor. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cherry)
Music for St Patrick's Day
We couldn't find a midi file for song above, but there are lots of songs with lyrics at these sites:
- http://www.eirefirst.com/songlyrics.html
- http://m.nu/eirinn/ceol/ (with many midi files)
- Donal O'Shaugnessy's site at http://www.irishsongs.com/lyrics.php
- Guitar tabs from Rod Smith's site
- http://ingeb.org/catei.html
Choose your Foliage
So what exactly is a shamrock?
Just some of the plants commonly named shamrock. White Clover (Trifolium repens)? Lesser Yellow Trefoil (Trifolium dubium)? Red clover (Trifolium pratense) Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)?
Take your pick. The chief taxonomist of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, in Dublin from 1976 to 1995, Dr Charles Nelson, did a survey in Ireland and found that 46% of people named Trifolium dubium (Least Hops Clover, Small Hops Clover, Lesser Trefoil, Yellow Shamrock) as shamrock. Click here for his article, or if you would like to buy his definitive book about shamrock, click here!
If you would like to order some shamrock to grow in your apartment here in the UAE, try www.LocalHarvest.org for some organic seed from Co. Meath. Just $85 (US) will get you 400 tiny seeds!
Put
Down Roots!
And if you want to go the whole hog and grow an entire Irish wildflower garden, this is a good place to get the seed. www.Wildflowers.ie. Their sister website, www.AllGoWild.com also has its own opinion on what shamrock is and what it is not...
Photo from White House website, March 2003
Queen Mother presents shamrocks to Irish Guards, March 2000.
Links:
- BBC and shamrock: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3519116.stm
- Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock
- Don't try to send shamrock to Australia, though...