The Moorlough Shore facts for kids
The Moorlough Shore is a classic Irish love song. It's a very old and beautiful traditional tune. You might also know it by other names, like "The Maid of Mourne Shore," "Moorlough Mary," or even "The Foggy Dew." Many different songs use the same lovely melody.
What the Song is About
This song tells a story about a young man who falls in love. He sings about how beautiful the countryside is, and especially about a girl he really likes. But the girl tells him she can't be with him. She already loves a sailor and promises to wait for him for seven years. The young man is very sad and frustrated. He decides to leave his home and sail away too. Even though he's leaving, he still sings about the girl he loves, who lives by the Moorlough Shore. The song takes place in a real area in Ireland, around Strabane. It mentions actual places and names along the River Mourne.
When the Song Was Heard
"The Moorlough Shore" is a very old song. One of the earliest times it was written down was in 1886. This was on a special kind of paper called a broadside, which was like an old newspaper or poster. People also talked about the song in music journals in the early 1900s. Later, in the 1940s, a version of the song was even found in Vermont, USA! Many famous singers have recorded their own versions of this song over the years. Some of these include:
- Paddy Tunney on his album Man of Songs (1963)
- Stan Rogers on Fogarty's Cove (1976)
- Dolores Keane on Lion in a Cage (1989)
- Sinéad O'Connor on Sean-Nós Nua (2002)
- The Corrs on their album Home (2005)
Other Famous Songs Using the Tune
The melody of "The Moorlough Shore" is so beautiful that it has been used for other well-known songs. After a big event in Irish history called the Easter Rising, a priest named Canon Charles O’Neil wrote new words for the tune. These new words created a famous political song called Foggy Dew. Also, the famous Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote a poem called Down by the Salley Gardens. This poem was later set to the same lovely melody by a musician named Herbert Hughes.
