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Mary & the Soldier

by Miguel Girão

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about

An Irish traditional song that binds the themes of love and war.

“Mary & the Soldier” is a traditional song that has been around for a long time. Several interpretations of this ballad have been recorded across Ireland and Scotland, being the version featured in Paul Brady & Andy Irvine 1976 album the one that probably caught most people’s attention.
The events in the lyrics refer to a love affair between a woman (Mary) and a soldier who is off to war. They seem to be inseparable to the point at which the soldier comes aware of Mary’s devotion to their love and decides to marry her before going into battle.
Some other ballads related to this topic often include a section in which the female character disguises herself as a soldier in order to go into battle with her loved one. Although it’s not clear if whether this happens in the version I recorded, I like to think that whatever fate met Mary and her gallant Soldier, at the end, they always thrived for the nurture of their love for each other, even tough both might have fallen on the battlefield.

lyrics

Come all you lads of high renown that will hear of a fair young maiden
And she roved out on a summer's day for to view the soldier's parading
They march so bold and they look so gay
The colours fine and the bands did play
And it caused young Mary for to say
"I'll wed you me gallant soldier"
She viewed the soldiers on parade and as they stood at their leisure
And Mary to herself did say:

"At last I find my treasure
But oh how cruel my parents must be
To banish my true love away from me
Well I'll leave them all and I'll go with thee
Me bold undaunted soldier"

"Oh Mary dear, your parents' love
I pray don't be unruly
For when you're in a foreign land,
believe you rue it surely
Perhaps in battle I might fall
From a shot from an angry cannonball
And you're so far from your daddy's hall
Be advised by a gallant soldier."

"Oh I have fifty guineas in bright gold,
likewise a hearth that's burning
And I'd leave them all and I'd go with you
me bold undaunted soldier
So don't say no but let me go
And I will face the daring foe
And we'll march together to and fro
And I'll wed you, my gallant soldier"

And when he saw her loyalty and Mary so true-hearted
He said: "Me darling, married we'll be
and nothing but death will part us
So when we're in a foreign land
I'll guide you, darling, with my right hand
In hopes that God might stand a friend
To Mary and her gallant soldier"

credits

released February 25, 2022
Arranged and performed by Miguel Girão
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Marco Silva at Altântico Blue Studios, Lisbon, Portugal.
Artwork & Design by Mariana do Vale

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about

Miguel Girão Glasgow, UK

Originally from the Portuguese Midlands and now based in Glasgow, Scotland, Miguel is a musician exploring the musical traditions of different corners of the world and fusing them with hints of classical and contemporary aesthetics.

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