“The Three Flowers”
Description
Singer met a girl with three flowers. He asked where she found them. She named each for where she found it: Michael Dwyer from the Wicklow hills, Wolfe Tone on Antrim Hill, and Robert Emmet in Dublin. She will keep them "Though all the world should fall"
Notes
Moylan: "Michael Dwyer was a Wicklow man, a member of the United Irishmen, who fought during the 1798 rebellion, and who waged a guerilla war in the Wicklow mountains for several years afterwards." [For more on his story, see the notes to "Michael Dwyer (I)." - RBW]
Wolfe Tone: see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght."
Robert Emmet: see the notes to "Bold Robert Emmet." - BS
There is a certain asymmetry here; Tone and Emmet were killed, but Dwyer surrendered and was transported, even becoming a civic official in Australia. It would seem more logical to list someone such as Henry Joy McCracken as the third flower. But then, I'm not Irish. - RBW
References
- Moylan 162, "The Three Flowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
- BI, Moyl162