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The Dear Brown Cow (Drimin Donn Dilis)

from There Were Roses by Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell, Jimmy Keane

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about

One of the many allegorical names for Ireland in mid-nineteenth century Irish political verse and song was The Dear Brown Cow, not an unusual symbol when one considers the importance of the cow in the small family land holdings of the day.

The tune to this song is traditional. The words, depicting the misery of famine-ridden Ireland in stark, graphic detail, were written by Derry born poet Edward Walsh (1805-1850) who died in Cork.

lyrics

Oh! Drimin Donn Dilis! The landlord has come,
Like a foul blast of death has he swept o'er our home;
He has withered the rooftree - beneath the cold sky,
And houseless and homeless, to-night we must lie.

My heart it is cold as the white winter's snow;
My brain is on fire, and my blood's in a glow.
Oh! Drimin Donn Dilis, 'tis hard to forgive
When a robber denies us the right we should live.

With my health and my strength, with hard labour and toil,
I dried the wet marsh and I tilled the harsh soil;
I moiled the long day through, from morn ‘til even,
And I thought in my heart I'd a foretaste of heaven.

The summer sun shone around us above and below,
The beautiful summer that makes the flowers grow;
Oh! 'Tis hard to forget it, and to think I must bear
That strangers shall reap the reward of my care.

Your limbs they were plumb then - your coat it was silk,
And never was wanted the mether of milk;
For freely it came in the calm summer's noon,
While you munched to the time of the old milking croon.

But they racked and they ground me with tax and with rent,
Till my heart it was sore and my life-blood was spent:
To-day they have finished, and on the wild world
With the mocking of fiends from my home was I hurled.

I knelt down three times for to utter a prayer,
But my heart it was seared, and the words were not there;
Oh! Wild were the thoughts through my dizzy head came,
Like the rushing of wind through a forest of flame.

I bid you, old comrade, a long last farewell;
For the gaunt hand of famine has clutched us too well;
It severed the master and you, my good cow,
With a blight on my life and a brand on your brow.

credits

from There Were Roses, released January 19, 2022
Mick Moloney: guitar, vocals
Robbie O’Connell: harmony vocals
Jimmy Keane: piano accordion
Eugene O’Donnell: fiddle
Jerry O’Sullivan: uilleann pipes

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Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell, and Jimmy Keane image

Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell, and Jimmy Keane

Since 1984, Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell, and Jimmy Keane have been delighting audiences with their unique blend of Irish music and song, both traditional and contemporary. An evening with this trio is an experience that covers much musical ground and is not easily forgotten. ... more

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