Family history, set to music
Oct. 5th, 2014 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeThanks to some curiosity prompted by a new colleague who likewise has some ancestors who came from County Cavan in Ireland to Ontario in the early 1800s, I have discovered that the wife of a distant cousin is a Tea Party state representative in Kansas, and a real estate developer, and a songwriter.
She wrote this ballad about my Irish immigrant ancestors and their Canada-born son, my grandma’s grandfather:
THAT'S OUR LIFE
The sweet and the sour, de dun diddle de
Joy and then pain, diddle de diddle dun
Darkness then light, de dun, dun diddle dun
Laughter to strife and that's our life.
John O'Hara and Jane Dysart
Married in Ireland both strong of heart
Tyranny seared and misery clear
From London Derry, cross the North Sea,
To Halifax Harbor, new life they seeked.
Their child she carried, birth was near
To Quebec City, in rags, what a pity
No Irish need apply, signs they came by
Tyranny seared, starvations near
This new land not as they planned
They journeyed on with the birth of their son
Down St. Lawrence Seaway, to Village Iroquois
Jane no longer the strong youth Ireland sent
In John's arms she died, life's bitter side
John left their child be with the Rose family.
Left behind son, great grandfather John
As a child wondering, would Father be coming
He wanted to be with his family
In his heart hope died, life's bitter side
His daily prayer spoken for family unbroken
Source: http://enneagramrecords.com/Artists/Charlotte_O-Hara/Lyrics/lyrics.html
Huh, and here’s another:
DREAMER’S EYES
The Castle of Dysart built 1409
Standing centuries of time
Secluded wilderness, Gaelic it means
Such a place to chase dreams
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
Young maiden, Jane Dysart, to the castle would go
Dreaming dreams so fine
Among tumbled down walls yesterday’s dreams
Her future she longed to find
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
One day a young man to the castle he came
John O’Hara his name
Stirrings of love there at first sight
Jane was to be his wife
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
On the Emerald Isle they were wed
Good wishes from family and friends
They told them from Ireland west they must flee
Across the great North Sea
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
‘Cross the North Sea their great-great-granddaughter sings
I, a dreamer of dreams
Pray they know their child’s children’s children’s child
Can still see dreams in their eyes
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
Source: http://enneagramrecords.com/Artists/Charlotte_O-Hara/Lyrics/Lyrics_3/lyrics_3.html
She wrote this ballad about my Irish immigrant ancestors and their Canada-born son, my grandma’s grandfather:
THAT'S OUR LIFE
The sweet and the sour, de dun diddle de
Joy and then pain, diddle de diddle dun
Darkness then light, de dun, dun diddle dun
Laughter to strife and that's our life.
John O'Hara and Jane Dysart
Married in Ireland both strong of heart
Tyranny seared and misery clear
From London Derry, cross the North Sea,
To Halifax Harbor, new life they seeked.
Their child she carried, birth was near
To Quebec City, in rags, what a pity
No Irish need apply, signs they came by
Tyranny seared, starvations near
This new land not as they planned
They journeyed on with the birth of their son
Down St. Lawrence Seaway, to Village Iroquois
Jane no longer the strong youth Ireland sent
In John's arms she died, life's bitter side
John left their child be with the Rose family.
Left behind son, great grandfather John
As a child wondering, would Father be coming
He wanted to be with his family
In his heart hope died, life's bitter side
His daily prayer spoken for family unbroken
Source: http://enneagramrecords.com/Artists/Charlotte_O-Hara/Lyrics/lyrics.html
Huh, and here’s another:
DREAMER’S EYES
The Castle of Dysart built 1409
Standing centuries of time
Secluded wilderness, Gaelic it means
Such a place to chase dreams
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
Young maiden, Jane Dysart, to the castle would go
Dreaming dreams so fine
Among tumbled down walls yesterday’s dreams
Her future she longed to find
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
One day a young man to the castle he came
John O’Hara his name
Stirrings of love there at first sight
Jane was to be his wife
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
On the Emerald Isle they were wed
Good wishes from family and friends
They told them from Ireland west they must flee
Across the great North Sea
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
‘Cross the North Sea their great-great-granddaughter sings
I, a dreamer of dreams
Pray they know their child’s children’s children’s child
Can still see dreams in their eyes
Seasons come, seasons go
Tyranny always the same
Clouds of oppression o’er Ireland did fly
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
Stilling dreams in dreamers’ eyes
Source: http://enneagramrecords.com/Artists/Charlotte_O-Hara/Lyrics/Lyrics_3/lyrics_3.html