"Lillibullero" (also spelt Lillibulero, Lilliburlero, or Lilli Burlero) is a march attributed to Henry Purcell. Thomas Wharton wrote lyrics for the song. It became popular in England at the time of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Many alternative lyrics have been written for the melody.
Background The melody of "Lillibulero" is attributed to Henry Purcell. It is unclear whether he composed the tune or simply arranged it.Kelsey, Franklyn. "Lillibullero", Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Fifth Edition, Volume 5. Edited by Eric Blom. St Martin's Press, Inc, New York, 1966. 237. It was first published in The Delightful Companion, John Playford's 1686 method book for recorder. The famous melody appears in the second half of a quickstep by Purcell. No original manuscript has been found. Writing over 200 years later, William Chappell surmised that Purcell's tune deserves nine-tenths of the credit for the popularity of the song.Chappell, William. "Purcell", Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 2. 1900.
Also in 1686, Thomas, Lord Wharton composed lyrics for Purcell's tune. The rakish Wharton was satirizing King James II's appointment of Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Wharton's conceit is a sarcastic conversation between two Irishmen about the imminent arrival of the Catholic Talbot, and its dire implications for the Protestants. "Lilliburlero" (with -rl) was the watchword used by Irish Catholics during the Irish Rebellion of 1641.Percy, Thomas. of Ancient English Poetry, Vol. 2. 1765.
The song initially made very little impression on the public. However, when James II began transferring Irish regiments to England in 1688, broadsides of the lyrics were printed, and "Lillibullero" became immensely popular by October.Crump, Galbraith M. [ed], Poems on Affairs of State, Augustan Satirical Verse, 1660-1714. Vol IV, 1685-1688. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968. It spread as a popular street song in English towns, and especially inside English barracks to mock the arriving Irish regiments.Macaulay, Thomas Babington. History of England, Vol. 3. 1869.Burnet, Gilbert. Bishop Burnet's History of His Own time, Volume 1. 1724. During the Glorious Revolution, the Whigs virtually adopted "Lillibullero" as their anthem.
The next month, William of Orange invaded, and "Lillibullero" became even more commonplace. Even the palace guards supposedly loyal to James II were heard singing it. A second part was published to the song as William advanced. The language of the second part is even rougher as two Irish soldiers stationed in England pine for home since the English hate them anyway.
Wharton boasted that he had "sung a deluded Prince out of three kingdoms".A true relation of the several facts and circumstances of the intended riot and tumult on Queen Elizabeth's birthday, 1711. 5. Many alternate versions cropped up during these tumultuous days. By 17 November an anti-Dutch parody of the original, "A New Song Upon the Hogen Mogens", was in circulation, drawing on popular animosity against the Dutch, who had been the national enemy for a generation, to counter the original's appeal.
Lyrics "Lillibullero bullen a la" is repeated after every line in each verse.
1686 Version
Ho, brother Teague, dost hear the decree? Lillibullero bullen a la We are to have a new deputy Lillibullero bullen a la
Refrain: Lero Lero Lillibullero Lillibullero bullen a la Lero Lero Lero Lero Lillibullero bullen a la
Oh by my soul it is a Talbot And he will cut every Englishman's throat (Refrain)
Though, by my soul, the English do prate The law's on their side and the devil knows what (Refrain)
But if dispense do come from the Pope We'll hang Magna Carta and themselves on a rope (Refrain)
And the good Talbot is now made a Lord And with his brave lads he's coming aboard (Refrain)
Who all in France have taken a swear, That they will have no Protestant heir (Refrain)
Now Tyrconnell is come ashore And we shall have commissions galore (Refrain)
And everyone that won't go to Mass He will be turned out to look like an ass
Now the heretics all go down By Christ and Saint Patrick's the nation's our own (Refrain)
There was an old prophecy found in a bog The country'd be ruled by an ass and a dog (Refrain)
Now this prophecy is all come to pass For Talbot's the dog and Tyrconnell's the ass (Refrain)
1688 Version
By Chreist, my dear Morish, vat maukes de sho' sad ? The heretics jear us and mauke me mad. (Refrain)
Pox take me, dear Teague, but I am in a rage, Poo', what impidence is in dish age? (Refrain)
Vat if Dush should come as dey hope, To up hang us for all de dispense of de Pope? (Refrain)
Dey shay dat Tyrconnel's a friend to de mash, For which he's a traitor, a pimp, and an ass. (Refrain)
Ara', plague tauke me know, I make a swar, I to Shent Tyburn will mauke a great prayer. (Refrain)
Oh, I will pray to Shent Patrick's frock, Or to Loreto's sacred smock. (Refrain)
Now, a pox tauke me, what dost dow tink, De English confusion to Popery drink. (Refrain)
And, by my shoul, de mash house pull down, While dey were swearing de Mayor of de town. (Refrain)
Oh, fait and be, I'll mauke de decree, And swar by de Chancellor's modesty; (Refrain)
Dat I no longer in English will stay, For be Goad, dey will hang us out of de way. (Refrain)
Meaning The first Irish Roman Catholic to serve as Lord Deputy of Ireland in nearly 200 years, Talbot quickly filled the army in Ireland with Catholic officers (hence "we will have commissions galore") and recruits, alarming the Protestants and raising the hopes of the Irish Catholic community for a restoration of their lands and political power ("by Christ and St Patrick, the nation's our own"). The Catholic resurgence created fears amongst Irish Protestants of a massacre, similar to that which had happened in the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
The song parodies Irish faith in prophecy while mocking the English for believing that Providence would guide them to victory.Thomson, Alex. "Stevenson's Afterlives". In The Edinburgh Companion to Robert Louis Stevenson. Edited by Penny Fielding. Edinburgh University Press, 2010. 157. Talbot, as well as being a name, is a breed of hound or hunting dog. The song's title and the words of the refrain have been interpreted as a garbled version of the Irish words An Lile ba léir é, ba linn an lá, "The Lily was everywhere and ours was the day (i.e., we won )". The lily may be a reference to the fleur de lis of France or to William Lilly, the most celebrated astrologer of the mid-seventeenth century. Lilly was a Parliamentarian who accurately predicted the Royalist defeats at Naseby and Colchester.Curry, Patrick. Prophecy and Power: Astrology in early Modern England. Princeton University Press, 1989. 28. Alternatively, the lyrics could mean, "Lilly is clear [about this], the day will be ours". It is also thought that "Lilli" is a familiar form of William, and that bullero comes from the Irish "Buaill Léir ó", which gives: "William defeated all that remained".
Professor Breandán Ó Buachalla has claimed that they are a garbled version of the Irish sentence "Leir o, Leir o, leir o, leiro, Lilli bu leir o: bu linn an la, " which he translates as "Manifest, manifest, manifest, manifest, Lilly will be manifest, the day will be ours" referring to a possible prophecy of an Irish victory by the astrologer William Lilly.Ó Buachalla, Breandán "Lillibulero–The New Irish Song" Familia, Belfast, 1991, pp. 47-59.
The Beggar's Opera
Purcell's music provided the tune for the highwayman Macheath's satire on modern society in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which first premiered in 1728, using popular folk tunes for its score. Here, the lyrics are:
The Modes of the Court so common are grown, That a true Friend can hardly be met; Friendship for Interest is but a Loan, Which they let out for what they can get. 'Tis true, you find Some Friends so kind, Who will give you good Counsel themselves to defend. In sorrowful Ditty, They promise, they pity, But shift for your Money, from Friend to Friend.
Protestant Boys One of the best-known parodies of "Lillibullero" is the Ulster Protestant folk lyric called "Protestant Boys". The song is played by flute bands accompanying the Orange Order during Orange or band-only parades, which have been the subject of controversy during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.Singleton, Brian. Masculinities and the Contemporary Irish Theatre. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 210.
There are two versions of "Protestant Boys", both sung to the tune of "Lillibullero". They begin as follows:
Version 1 The Protestant Boys are loyal and true Stout hearted in battle and stout-handed too The Protestant Boys are true to the last And faithful and peaceful when danger has passed And Oh! they bear and proudly wear The colours that floated o'er many a fray Where cannon were flashing And sabres were clashing The Protestant Boys still carried the day.
Version 2 Tell me, my friends, why are we met here? Why thus assembled, ye Protestant Boys? Do mirth and good liquor, good humour, good cheer, Call us to share of festivity's joys? Oh, no! 'tis the cause, Of king – freedom – and laws, That calls loyal Protestants now to unite; And Orange and Blue, Ever faithful and true, Our king shall support, and sedition a fright.
Nottingham Ale "Nottingham Ale" is an English drinking song sung to the tune of "Lillibullero".
The historian Blackner relates that a person of the name Gunthorpe, who within memory of persons then living kept the Punch Bowl, a public house in Peck Lane, Nottingham, sent a barrel of ale of his own brewing as a present to his brother, an officer in the navy, who in return composed this poetic epistle. It appears to have been a popular song around the end of the 18th century and was one which Goldsmith enjoyed especially when sung by one of the comic singers who frequented one of his haunts in London.
It was sung at the launching ceremony of the Nottingham, an East Indiaman, on 7 March 1787, at Clevey's yard in Gravesend. The ship was 1,152 tons, had a crew of 144, and was one of the largest and fastest ever built.
Fair Venus, the goddess of beauty and love Arose from the froth which swam on the sea. Minerva leapt out of the cranium of Jove, A coy, sullen slut, as most authors agree. Bold Bacchus, they tell us, the prince of good fellas Was a natural son, pray attend to my tale And they that thus chatter, mistake quite the matter He sprung from a barrel of Nottingham Ale!
Nottingham Ale, boys, Nottingham Ale No liquor on earth is like Nottingham Ale! Nottingham Ale, boys, Nottingham Ale No liquor on earth like Nottingham Ale!
And having survey'd well the cask whence he sprung For want of more liquor, low spirited grew He mounted astride, to the jolly cask clung And away to the gods and the goddess flew. But when he look'd down and saw the fair town To pay it due honours, not likely to fail He swore that on earth 'twas the town of his birth And the best – and no liquor like Nottingham ale.
Ye bishops and deacons, priests, curates and vicars When once you have tasted, you'll own it is true That Nottingham Ale, it's the best of all liquors And who understands the good creature like you. It expels every vapour, saves pen, ink, and paper And when you're disposed from the pulpit to rail T'will open your throats, you may preach without notes When inspired with a bumper of Nottingham Ale.
Ye doctors who more execution have done With powder and bolus, with potion and pill Than hangman with halter, or soldier with gun Than miser with famine, a lawyer with quill To dispatch us the quicker, you forbid us malt liquor Till our bodies consume and our faces grow pale. But mind it what pleases and cures all diseases Is a comfortable dose of good Nottingham Ale.
Ye poets, who brag of the Helicon brook, The nectar of gods, and the juice of the vine, You say none can write well, except they invoke