Sláinte For our second issue, we have the lyrics and some background to the song The Wearing of the Green, the history of Saint Patrick, wearing green and other Saint Patrick's Day traditions, and a traditional Saint Patrick's Day toast.

The Wearing of the Green

by Dion Boucicault (1820-1890)

O Paddy dear, and did you hear the news that going round?
The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground;
St. Patrick's Day no more we'll keep, his colours can't be seen,
For there's a bloody law against the wearing of the green.
I met with Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand,
And he said, "How's poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?"
She's the most distressful counterie that ever yet was seen,
And they're hanging men and women for the wearing of the green.

Then since the colour we must wear is England's cruel red,
Sure Ireland's sons will ne'er forget the blood that they have shed.
You may take a shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod,
It will take root and flourish there though underfoot it's trod.
When law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they grow,
And when the leaves in summer-time their verdure dare not show,
Then will I change the colour that I wear in my caubeen
But 'till that day, please God, I'll stick to wearing of the green.

But if at last our colour should be torn from Ireland's heart,
Our sons with shame and sorrow from this dear old isle will part;
I've heard a whisper of a land that lies beyond the sea
Where rich and poor stand equal in the light of freedom's day.
O Erin, must we leave you driven by a tyrant's hand?
Must we ask a mother's blessing from a strange and distant land?
Where the cruel cross of England shall nevermore be seen,
And where, please God, we'll live and die still wearing of the green!

The wearing of green on Saint Patrick's Day began as a symbol of resistance to British rule, and the law that forbade the growing of shamrocks. The British began executing people found wearing green, as traitors against the crown. Dion Boucicault, the Dublin playwrite who wrote the poem, found that he had to leave the country after word of his poem spread, and so did James Napper Tandy, a Dublin shopkeeper and rebel. The poem was from Boucicault's play Arrah na Pogue (Gaelic for Exchange of Kisses). The tune to the song has been traced back to James Oswald, a Scottish musician, which is the same tune for the song The Orange and the Green and The Rising of the Moon.

Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's given name was Maewyn Succat, and he was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, around 387 AD. Until the age of 16, he considered himself a pagan. When he was 16, he was sold into slavery when marauders under the leadership of Niall of the Nine Hostages raided his village. He escaped slavery after 6 years and went to Gaul to study in a monastery. While he was training, he adopted the Christian name of Patrick, and his wishes were to follow his perceived calling of converting the pagans in Ireland to Christianity. He traveled across Ireland, establishing several monasteries. He also set up schools and churches to aid him. His actions upset the local druids, and he was arrested several times, but he always escaped. To gain the support of the King Laoghaire, High King of Tara, he plucked a shamrock and used it's three leaves to explain the holy trinity. The rumour of Patrick ridding Ireland of snakes is, in fact, a metaphor for his convering the island to Christianity. The snakes represent the pagans. After spending 30 years on his mission, he retired to County Down, and died on March 17th, 460 AD. Saint Patrick's Day was first celebrated in America in 1737.

Wearing of the Green The colour green being associated with Saint Patrick's Day has nothing to do with St. Patrick at all, since St. Patrick's colour was blue, not green. But the colour green became a symbol of support for Ireland when the British forbade the growing of shamrocks, and the wearing of green in Ireland. Irish schoolchildren began the tradition of pinching people that did not wear green on Saint Patrick's Day, and that tradition is still practiced now.

Traditions In America, people often eat corned beef and cabbage to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. In Ireland, however, the more traditional meal is ham and cabbage, or bacon and cabbage. It became corned beef in America, when the poor Irish immigrants couldn't afford bacon, and had to use a cheaper substitute.

Erin go bragh is a popular phrase that you'll hear on Saint Patrick's day. It's pronounced erin guh brawk, and means "Ireland forever". It's actual gaelic spelling is Éireann go Brách.

Cheers!
Saint Patrick was a gentleman
Who through strategy and stealth
Drove all the snakes from Ireland,
Here's a toasting to his health;
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good Saint Patrick
And see all those snakes again.

Sláinte!
AllieKat