The Wearing of the Green facts for kids

"The Wearing of the Green" is an old Irish song. It is a sad song about a time when people in Ireland were treated unfairly. This was because they supported the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The song says that people were punished for wearing the color green.

The revolutionary group called the Society of United Irishmen chose green as their special color. People who supported them wore green clothes, ribbons, or badges. In some versions of the song, the "green" means a shamrock, which is a small green plant.

What the Song is About

The song tells the story of a rebel who had to leave Ireland. They meet a famous person, often Napper Tandy, who was an Irish rebel leader. This person asks for news from Ireland. The rebel then explains that people wearing green are being treated very badly. They faced harsh consequences for showing their support.

Different Versions of the Song

Many different versions of the song exist.

• One early version from 1798, called "Green upon the Cape," tells of a rebel from Belfast. This rebel goes to Paris and meets "Boney" (Napoleon Bonaparte).
• Another version from 1802, "Green on my Cape," features Robert Emmet meeting the rebel in Brest.
• Later versions from the 1840s and 1850s also mention Napoleon.

The most famous version was written by Dion Boucicault. He changed it for his play in 1864 called Arragh na Pogue, or the Wicklow Wedding. This play was set in County Wicklow during the 1798 rebellion. In Boucicault's song, the singer meets Napper Tandy, who was living in France. Boucicault said he based his song on an old Dublin street song he remembered. His version suggests that people should move to America instead of staying and fighting.

Other people also wrote their own versions. Henry Grattan Curran wrote one and said the original song came from County Tipperary. Wellington Guernsey also published his version in 1866.

Even a 1937 movie called North of the Rio Grande featured a version. In this film, the character Bull O'Hara, played by Walter Long, sings a lighthearted version. This version celebrates the beauty of Ireland.

The Song's Music

The tune for "The Wearing of the Green" was first printed in a magazine in Dublin in 1841. A slightly different tune appeared four years later in a book called The Spirit of the Nation. Other versions of the music can be found in different song collections from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Who Sang It?

Many artists and groups have recorded "The Wearing of the Green." Some famous singers include:

• John McCormack (in 1904 and 1912)
• Judy Garland (in 1940)
• Patrick O'Malley (in 1961)
• The Kelly Family (in 1979)
• The Wolfe Tones (in 1985)
• Orthodox Celts (in 1997)
• Irish Moutarde

Other Songs Like This

The Irish composer Wellington Guernsey made a new version for voice and piano in 1866. Another composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, arranged the melody with new words in 1900.

Several composers in the 1800s also wrote piano versions of the tune. These included Thomas Brown, William Henry Goodban, Fred Beyer, and Willie Pape.

A Franco-Irish composer named Joseph O'Kelly used the tune in his piano piece called Air irlandais in 1877. He played the tune on the piano and then added two fancy variations.

Other songs mention "The Wearing of the Green." These include "Monto" by the Dubliners and "Each Dollar A Bullet" by Stiff Little Fingers. Another old song from 1798, also called "The Wearing of the Green," refers to this more famous song in its chorus.

Some songs even use the same tune as "The Wearing of the Green."

• "The Rising of the Moon" is about the same 1798 rebellion.
• "The Orange and the Green" is about a marriage between a Protestant and a Catholic.
• "Sae Will We Yet" is by the Scottish folk group The Corries.
• "The Wearing of the Grey" was a sad song for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It was published in 1865.
• Another Civil War song, "The Army of the Free", also used the same tune.