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1.
The Good Ship Kelly Jean the days were long and dreadful the landlords were unkind no home, no food no future, no joy, no peace of mind they said there was a new world, the likes of us could live so we headed to the docklands, to see what they could give Captain Conal was a Quaker he was good and strong and fair he welcomed us aboard and promised he would get us there he said ‘you’ll have to pull your weight but you will do just fine I’ve never lost one passenger on any watch of mine’ haul away boys haul away there’s nothing left here for us anyway the voyage won’t be easy and there’s nothing in between, so we settled in the belly of the good ship Kelly Jean Captain Conal ran a tight ship, they were a loyal crew before they would set sail again, he’d tell them what to do ‘treat passengers with deep respect and simple dignity, any sailor who ignores this will be answerable to me’ soon the cruel ocean was beating on the bow Conal smiled and shouted out ‘no going back there now! I’ve seen the place your headed and it is rich and green and I swear you’ll get there safely on the good ship Kelly Jean’ it was six weeks on the open sea before we saw the shore it slowly dawned that we would see our homeland nevermore but Conal shared a meal with us and looked us in the eye ‘work hard now for your children and your people will not die’ Sammy Horner vocals, bass, acoustic guitar Dennis Holt drums Phil Madeira accordion Tim Cotterell fiddle, mandolin [During a visit to the famine ship in New Ross Wexford, we learned that the voyage to the new world itself could be lethal. Many died on board, but you had a better chance of survival if you were on a Quaker ship. The Quakers’ religious views emphasized human dignity and so, fresh air, water, food and sanitation were available to all passengers giving them a better chance at survival. Kelly Jean is a fictitious ship named after a dear friend who still flies the flag for human dignity and kindness.]
2.
Linger Here Beside You these days are strange that’s come and you are still so young but even so I see your worried glances it all seems so unsure what lies behind our door  they say that no one should be taking chances come lay here in my arms and look into my eyes and you will see the love that nothing can disguise no matter what this day requires us all to do your mammy will just linger here beside you sure life can make us smile and also make us cry it has been that way far back as we remember at times you'll think you’re king and others just a slave when hope seems nothing but a dying ember Tess Wiley vocals, guitar Kylie Horner & Tess Wiley bgv Jim Devlin lead guitar [Community and family remain at the very heart of survival. I got to thinking of parents and children in times of famine or hardship (or indeed Covid19, the time these songs were written) and how comfort and encouragement are always essential.]
3.
N.I.N.A now listen here me mates I’ve a story to relate and you might find it hard to believe there’s a rumour going round  saying jobs there can be found If you travel far across the mighty sea but I’ve heard that it's true for the likes of me and you honest labour's hard to find there if you try it's been whispered here to me the first sign that you will see says the irish need not apply apparently the French are allowed to use a wrench the Germans building houses by the score and no one’s bothered much, if you’re Danish or you’re Dutch and Englishmen get offers even more to find work in a bar is limited by far  if you came from Donegal you'll wonder why doesn't matter what the season and it makes no sense or reason the sign says if you’re Irish don't apply I’m sure you think I’m rakin' or making stories up but my sources are reliable be sure and I wouldn’t tell a lie, cross my heart and hope to die there’s some work for you there if you endure you must think a little broader, for you'll be cannon fodder or laying rails in deserts hot and dry well all that work is thriving if you don't mind not surviving and for these jobs the Irish may apply Sammy Horner vocals, bass, acoustic guitar Rhys Duursma drums Sean McMains whistle Tim Cotterell banjo, fiddle Nick Stiverson mandolin David Lyon accordion  [Once again thanks to the Famine Ship Exhibition, New Ross for highlighting the plight of the Irish as they went to the USA and faced further hardship due to lack of work.]
4.
The Children Of White Rock we left White Rock behind us  on a tall ship under sail took the broad Atlantic with the dolphin and the whale we're bound for New York City, and opportunity it's all that’s left for a no chance soul like me two thousand miles behind us, two thousand till we're there too far out to turn back too far gone to care I curse the cur who sold me my ticket at the dock and tore me from the children of White Rock they tell me that there's plenty and the streets are paved with gold, but all I feel’s the biting steel of hunger and the cold so pass around the bottle, I need it's company It’s all that's left for a no chance soul like me so fair thee well my homeland and my lazy no-good  friends fair thee well my darling I'll love you to the end and I won't forget your cheating heart as flimsy as your frock I will always miss you, the children of White Rock Sammy Horner vocals, acoustic guitar, dulcimer guitar Kylie Horner accordion [In our world of easy travel, it is hard to imagine a voyage that would take us from our homeland forever. This was the case for so many who left Ireland in the past.]
5.
Annie Glover come all you young Irish lads, lassies as well I’ll spin you a yarn that one day you’ll tell don’t make it a whisper make sure that you yell  the ballad of poor Annie Glover now Annie was raised on her family’s farm they worked on the land, they did no one harm like many a girl, fell for a man’s charm his wife she became Annie Glover a daughter she bore him then sadly he died now young mother Annie had nothing beside for a husband and father sweet Annie now cried the heartbroken poor Annie Glover as darkness descended for reasons unknown the roundhead came into dear Annie’s home and shipped her and daughter across briny foam she never knew why Annie Glover then both made to work, John Goodwin their lord no wages were given except food and board the Irish were free so they all could afford  the likes of sweet old Annie Glover but all Goodwin’s daughters fell sick at one time The doctors were helpless to make them feel fine 'It’s witch craft' they said, ‘a hex is the crime’ and blamed it on old Annie Glover now Annie praised Jesus in her mother tongue and also in Latin to her faith she clung but she couldn’t in English and so she was hung As a witch she died poor Annie Glover Maria Forde vocals Sammy Horner 12 string guitar, bass, mandolin, dulcimer guitar, bodhran Kylie Horner whistles, accordion [Annie Glover was sent to the USA to work as an indentured servant. After her master’s children became sick, she was accused of witchcraft. She would have been pardoned if she could have said the Lord’s Prayer in English. Annie, a devout Catholic, could recite the prayer but only in Irish and Latin. She was the last woman to be hung in the Salem witch trials.]
6.
California we are heading to a new land,  like nothing we have seen one part is a desert the other emerald green it's hard now to imagine it  but one day we might say there's less of us in Ireland than in California to Connecticut , New Jersey New York and Ohio, Illinois & Massachusetts to Iowa we'll go we'll bring our music with us and we will dance and say there's less of us in Ireland than in California this new land will have Murphys, O’Donnels, McEvoys there'll be Connors and Fitzgeralds, and them McCarthy Boys the Ryans and the Foleys pick their fiddles up and play there's less of us in Ireland than in California there'll be Kellys in Kentucky the Byrnes in Baltimore the San Francisco Sullivans O'Briens by the score Saint Patrick's Christian Brothers who also when they pray say there’s less of us in Ireland than in California Sammy Horner vocals, mandolin, guitar, bass, tambourine Rhys Duursma drums Tim Cotterell fiddle Gang vocals- Kylie Horner, Jon Hirst, Eric Hauck, Mark Hootman, Josh Fitzgerald, Tim Yordy, Samantha White, Mike Weaver, Max Berueffy, Freya Webster , Lewis Webster, Stephanie Cass Holiman, Aidan Mitchell, Thore, Jaron & Timmi Steffan [Currently more than 66 million Americans claim Irish heritage. I took some poetic license here (about 2.5 million Californians say they are Irish, you get the picture) but the USA has a lot to thank the Irish for to this day.]
7.
Skibbereen it was in West Cork I breathed my first it was there that I grew tall my father a strong cottier my mother quaint and small, we worked the land, it paid the rent put food upon our plate we never starved till ‘46 t’was when we felt it’s weight. for she used to be delightful, the finest place you’d seen she used to be magnificent in her forty shades of green you’d never want to leave her not if ever you’d ever been to our town before the hunger came and it starved poor Skibbereen. it started with a rumour that the praties had turned bad the land was giving nothing back the worst crops that we’d had. but we’d been thru hard times before community was strong but we’d never seen the likes before we couldn’t be more wrong we heard the Murphys’ son had died their daughter close behind the sadness, oh the sadness tlmost made us lose our minds. they told us we were lucky how thankful we should be as they sealed us in a coffin boat and pushed us out to sea Sharon Clancy vocals Sammy Horner guitar, mandolin, bass, bodhran Timmy Cotterell fiddle Howard Rogers/Kylie Horner whistles Kylie Horner accordion Mick Egan overdubs [The town of Skibbereen in west Cork was one of the worst affected areas during the Great Hunger. The town has become synonymous with the great famine that killed more that one million people and sent another 1million to other shores.]
8.
Hush  just close your eyes my gentle wee boy today has been a long with nought to enjoy I know that you're belly is empty and sore hush go to sleep my wee darling hush now go to sleep wake in that place were you'll no longer weep your mammy is there, soon I will come hush go to sleep my wee darling your days have been sort  upon this green land why it's so hard you can’t understand so close your dear eyes your Da has your hand hush go to sleep my wee darling I'll tell you a tale, best as I can they say that the good Lord has promised a land there’s food on each table as much as you want so hush go to sleep my wee darling Sammy Horner vocals, guitars Kylie Horner whistles Tony Silcock drones [I tried to imagine the horror of watching your family die of hunger and disease and how you might try to comfort them. This song almost didn’t make it on the album but I allowed some other artists to hear it and they felt it was an important one.]
9.
10.
The Song Isn't Singing I’m just a poor farmer, an Irishman proud we sang songs to the hearts of our women and we danced in the fields like we owned the whole land when the land of the song was still singing but the blight it has come and ruined our crops and the songs from our throats have been driven to the grave like our mothers and fathers before when the land of the song was still singing they said we'd have hope if we worked hard and prayed but they lied in the tidings they're bringing my wife died to hunger my child of disease in the land were the song wasn't singing those English fat asses just sat on their hands  and the church lied beyond my forgiving for what’s there to say as they send me away from a land where the song isn't singing oh the tunes of my country the reels and the jigs everyday in my head are still ringing will I hear them one day, on a shore far away from the land where the song isn't singing  Sammy Horner vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin, bodhran Kylie Horner whistle, accordion Tim Cotterell fiddle [I read this quote from a book that I can no longer find. One of the marks that changed how Ireland looked to strangers during the famine was that the music had stopped. A people known for their love of music had stopped singing. A chilling insight of how hunger damaged so much more than just their stomachs. ]
11.
No Man Is An island come sit round me table  and share in a meal let’s tell all our stories together for it's in community each of us thrive its how we survive wind and weather no man is an island no woman can live  without kindly neighbours  and others who give a hand when we're helpless so come let us live and give thanks for our our friends and relations  there's not much to eat but there’s plenty to share the poems and songs you're recalling will help feed our spirits until there's a time when things will not be so appalling Sammy Horner vocals, 12 string guitar, bodhran,  Kylie Horner vocals, whistle [Kylie and I returned to the theme of the need for strong community to get through hardship. We need each other. Made so very clear in 2020.]
12.
These Days Will Pass It seems too long since life was fine  pain goes by in  slower time we shared the little that we had where things had never been that bad  keep your head high, this time will soon be done  just believe that, the best is yet to  come  for even hard times will wither like the grass these days will pass, these days will pass sure trouble  makes or breaks a man some  give in while others stand and somewhere in the midst the fear they know these days  will disappear we'll make our journey , find our place some day soon in God's good grace and we'll be glad for what we've done for our daughters for our sons       Sammy Horner vocals, mandolin, 12 string guitar, bass Kylie Horner vocals, bgv, whistle Rhys Duursma drums, percussion Jim Devlin lead guitar David Lyon accordion [We wanted a hopeful song for finishing this. Hard times seem to last forever, but history shows us that they do eventually pass. Hope springs eternal indeed.]

about

When 2020 brought COVID 19 to our shores Sammy decided to used the ‘lockdown period’ to work on a project he had been thinking about for more than ten years.

Growing up in Belfast, he was taught British history and knew very little about Irish history. As he read and began to visit sites like Skibbereen Heritage and The Dunbrody Famine Ship centres to gather more information about the famine years and the dispersion of the Irish people, the songs came quickly.

Obviously bringing other singers and players into the studio was not going to be possible, yet this very fact helped to bring together people from around the world to contribute to the songs.

The project FAR AWAY PLACES was completed late 2020 and as 2021 arrived there seemed no end in site of lockdowns and restrictions. The album has received rave reviews and since touring is still in peril, we felt that the Album should be available in the places that educate others on this aspect of Irish history / life.


What They Are Saying….

‘Lyrically, the songs tell a heart-wrenching tale that could be applied to too many incidents of oppression and discrimination throughout history.’
Brendan Keane Wexford People

‘Some really fine stories in here’
Brendan Graham Songwriter / Author


A work of great merit and a real testament to all involved.
  Paul McGee. Lonesome Highway

credits

released April 2, 2021

All songs by Sammy Horner except: Immigrant Eyes by Rodney Cordner ©PRS;
These Days Will Pass and No Man Is An Island by Sammy Horner & Kylie Horner
© MCPS/PRS

Recorded and produced by Sammy Horner @ Bigfeet Studio Wexford, Ireland

Over dubs recorded by:

Dennis Holt @ The Boom Room Nashville TN, USA
Phil Madeira @ Planet Of The Tapes, Nashville TN, USA
Tim Cotterell @ The Back Room Brighton, UK
Tess Wiley @ Daheim Studio Gießen, Germany
Nick Stiverson @ Nightbird Recording Studio Ann Arbor MI, USA
Maria Forde @ The Forde Factory Trentham, Australia
Rhys Duursma @ Trial & Trust Studio Albury VIC, Australia
Tony Silcock @ DUB-ious Studios London, UK
David Lyon @ The Lyon’s Share Studio Greenock, Scotland
James Anderson @ Daisyhill Studio, Northern Ireland
Mick Egan @ Mick Egan Studio Wexford, Ireland

Cover Artwork by Alexander Lee Buie

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