Things are coming up green. The snow is thawing, making way for the green, if slightly deceased, flora; the province under NDP-Green governance. But this isn’t a weather or political column, not really.
This is an opportunity to think about a different type of green: St. Patrick’s Day.
“Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling; From glen to glen and down the mountain side.”
It’s the quintessential Irish lyric from the quintessential Irish ballad, Danny Boy. It has become so popular, in fact, that Irish Canadians and Americans often consider it an anthem of the ancestors.
As a (partial) Irish Canadian, it is, admittedly, a good ditty.
Written by the prolific Fred Weatherly in the 1910s, Danny Boy became a world-favourite from the era. It’s a ballad that casts an image of the Irish isles, of a man off to fight in the war. Set to the classic tune of Londonderry Air, it sounds as Irish as it gets.
However, delve a little deeper, and you will discover that it isn’t Irish at all. Weatherly was in fact a top crust Englishman. For it to cast such a vivid image of Irish culture and country, though, Weatherly must have had a romanticized view of Ireland.
Contrast the tale of Danny Boy with St. Patrick’s Day itself, and the timeline is uncanny.
St. Patrick’s Day began as a religious feast during the 17th century in observance of the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Fast-forward to the 21st century, and St. Patrick’s Day, at least in North America, is hardly quarantined to a feast.
Instead, people gather outside with shamrocks painted on their faces to observe St. Patrick’s Day parades. People gather in Irish pubs and drink green beer while scarfing down Irish stew while listening to the glorious sounds of the fiddle — or Danny Boy, of course.
Danny Boy is written by an Englishman, but is considered a classic Irish song. St. Patrick’s Day began as a religious feast in Ireland, and transformed into a broad celebration of Irish culture.
That’s not to say that St. Patrick’s Day is a terrible excuse of a holiday and has lost sight of its origins — in fact, it’s quite the opposite.
What people demonstrate by banding together March 17 every year, clad in full green regalia and singing of leprechauns and the Celtic isles, is unity.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the century-long clash between the Irish and the English holds little weight. Instead, people of English and Irish descent join together, arm in arm, green beer in hand, and sing about the calling of the pipes.
So go out and celebrate Saturday night. Whether you’re going to listen to the fiddling jams of Cod Gone Wild Friday at the Vernon Lodge, the foxtrot of the Chilly Creakers Band Saturday at All Saints Anglican Church, the shamrock and roll weekend at The Green featuring Feet First or gathering in Jim’s garage with a case of Guinness and a tray of potato skins while listening to the Celtic punk offerings of the Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly, it makes little difference.
Raise your glass of green beer, belt out Danny Boy as loud as your heart desires, but don’t do it just because it’s St. Patrick’s Day. Do it for Ireland. Do it for cultural unity.
@VernonNews
parker.crook@vernonmorningstar.com
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