It's that time of year again...time for a folk song node.
"A Stór Mo Chroí" is an Irish ballad written by Brian O'Higgins in the late 1920s, based on the tune of Bruach na Carriage Báine.
It's written with Ireland in mind, but it works for emigration in general -- a song about the relationship between those who leave and those who stay. Higgins was an Irish patriot who participated in the 1916 uprising, so he's writing from the perspective of those left behind, calling to his people over the sea to remember those they love. The title translates to "Treasure of my Heart."
A stor mo chroi when you're far away
From the home you will soon be leaving
It's many's the time by night and by day
When your heart will be sorely grieving
For the stranger's land may be bright and fair
Rich in it's treasures golden
But you'll pine I know for days long long ago
And the one that is never olden
A stor mo chroi in the stranger's land
There is plenty of wealth and wailing
Where gems adorn the great and the grand
Where the faces with hunger paling
When the road it is tiresome and hard to tread
And the lights of their cities blind you
Oh turn a stor to Erin's shore
And the one that you leave behind you
A stor mo chroi when the evening mist
Over mountain and sea is falling
Oh turn a stor and then you list
And maybe you will hear me calling
For the sound of a voice you will surely miss
Somebody speedily returning
A rune a rune won't you come back soon
To the one that will always love you
It's different than your usual folk song, considering that there's a
definite authorship and canon lyrics...but it's an
Irish ballad, so
people treat it like your regular folk song, and record their own
covers, with slightly variant lyrics and melody.
My favorite version is by
Maura O'Connel.
Jennifer
Sheehand's version is also pretty good. As well as
Colm O'Donnel's.