Annotation:Nation Once Again (A)
X:1 T:Nation Once Again, A M:C L:1/8 R:Air and March Q:"Andante cantabile" N:"Words by Davis." B:Batt Scanlon - "The Violin Made Easy and Attractive" (San Francisco, 1923, p. 57) N:Scanlon was a student of George Whelan, a North Kerry fiddle player and teacher Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Bb (DE)|G2 GA B2 AB|(d3c) (B4A)|G2c2 (BA)(GA)|c2 B2 z2 u(DE)|F2 GA B2 AB| (d3c) (B3A)|G2 (cB) AG F=E|G2F2 z2uF2|F2G2A2B2|(c3F) (.F3.F)|G2A2B2c2| d4 z2 (BA)|G2G2 (e3d)|(c2B2) A3G|(E3d) (c2B2)|B4z2}:"Chorus"F2|(d3c) (B3A)| G4z2G2|(e3d) (c2B2)|A4 z2F2|F2 GA B2 AB|G2 (c>B) !fermata!A2 (Bc)|d2e2 (c>B)|B6:|]
NATION ONCE AGAIN, A. Irish, Song Air and March. D Major (Prior): B Flat Major (Scanlon). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Prior): ABB (Scanlon). The song "A Nation Once Again" is the product of poet and writer Thomas Osbourne Davis [1] (1814 - 1845), a founder of "Young Ireland" and editor of the "The Nation". Davis espoused an inclusive view of Irish nationalism, and urged unity between Protestants and Catholics toward the goal of Irish independence. He also was convinced that "a song is worth a thousand harangues", proving his assertion with several stirring pieces that still resonate today. "A Nation Once Again" was first published in The Nation in July, 1844, and proved immediately popular. His lyric begins:
When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen,
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood,
Three hundred men and three men;
And then I prayed I yet might see
Our fetters rent in twain,
And Ireland, long a province, be.
A Nation once again!
Chorus:
A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!
The tune was played by the Kilfenora Céilí Band in the 1950's and 1960's.
