‘Shamrock, Rose and Thistle’ is an appropriate metaphor for the mixed Irish, English and Scottish strands that make up the English-language song tradition of the north of Ireland, and it is also the title of an important collection-study made of this tradition by Hugh Shields: the book Shamrock, Rose and Thistle: Folk Singing in North Derry, which was first published in Belfast in 1981 and is long out of print.
It contains lyrics and meticulously detailed musical transcriptions for seventy-four English-language songs, several in multiple versions, collected in the field from 1961 to 1975 in the coastal area of Magilligan in north Co Derry, and presented with extensive musical, linguistic, social and bibliographic documentation. The physical region is described, its history outlined, and an account given of its singers – chief among them being Eddie Butcher – and of their singing practices and songs.
Courtesy of the Shields family, this classic volume is now made available once again on this site of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, greatly expanded by multimedia enhancements made possible by online technology.
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1968
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
John Butcher Jnr,
July 1969
Jimmy Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1968
Eddie Butcher,
1964
Charlie Somers,
18 July 1969
Robert Butcher Snr,
August 1961
Lizzie O’Hagan,
July 1966
Hugh Somers,
22 July 1969
Annie Sweeney,
22 July 1969
Robert Butcher Jnr,
July 1969
Charlie Begley,
August 1961
John Butcher Snr,
1969
John Butcher Snr,
July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Bill Quigley,
19 July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Tilly Quigley,
18 July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
September 1975
Grace Butcher,
12 July 1968
Eddie Butcher,
17 July 1969
Ellen Butcher Mary,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
July 1969
Tom Anderson,
21 July 1969
Charlie Somers,
23 July 1969
Tom Anderson,
19 July 1969
John Fleming,
20 July 1969
Lizzie O’Hara,
19 July 1969
John Fleming,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
19 July 1969
Bill Quigley,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
John Butcher Snr,
21 July 1969
Charlie Somers,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Jimmy Butcher,
21 July 1969
Charlie Somers,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
19 July 1969
Bill Quigley,
November 1964
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
John Butcher Snr,
July 1966
Robert Butcher Snr,
July 1968
Eddie Butcher,
July 1968
Eddie Butcher,
21 July 1969
Charlie Somers,
19 July 1969
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Maria Butcher,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
John Butcher senior,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
July 1969
Robert Butcher Snr,
July 1968
Tom Anderson,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
21 July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
July 1969
Mary Osborne,
July 1966
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
John Butcher Snr,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Tom Anderson,
August 1961
Eddie Butcher,
July 1969
Mary Harte,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
1968
Eddie Butcher,
August 1961
Hugh Shields,
July 1966
Eddie Butcher,
August 1961
Jimmy Butcher,
July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
July 1966
Lizzie O’Hara,
17 September 1970
Eddie Butcher,
23 July 1969
Eddie Butcher,
Tom Anderson,
