Spancil Hill - The Ugly Band - Michael Considine - Irish

Here's a long and joyous rendition of the Irish folk classic Spancil Hill performed by The Ugly Band aka Jimmy Sticks on guitar Joe Kerr on vocals and rhythm guitar and Dave Toussaint on harmonica. I made this video in the summer of 1996 and Dave and Joe who had known each other for sometime met Jimmy Sticks for the first time and by the serendipity that the communion of music brings recorded some 90 minutes of wonderful music that hot summer afternoon afterwards risking the wrath of my missus having left all my equipment scattered over the living room should she arrive home we went off to a nearby pub and celebvrated the creativity of that afternoon with a few pints. "Spancil Hill" is a song written in a traditional Irish folk style by Michael Considine. It bemoans the plight of the Irish immigrants who so longed for home from their new lives in America, many of whom went to California with the Gold Rush. This song is sung by a man who longs for his home in Spancill Hill, County Clare, his friends and the love he left there. All the characters and places in this song are real. Spancil hill is a real place it lies on the road between Ennis and Tulla County Clare, the name comes from the term "spancilling" which was tieing one of an animals front legs to one of its back with a short rope to stop it straying too far, among shepherds in the north the term for this was "langelling" Apparently there was a horse fair held late in June on Spancil Hill. The author of Spancil hill was Michael Considine, he was born around 1850 and emigrated to USA some twenty years later, his intention being to earn enough money to bring his sweetheart, Mary MacNamara to America. Michael worked for two years in Boston, before moving to California, unfortunately his health was deteriorating when he realized he hadn't long to live he wrote the poem, in remembrance of his love, he sent it to his nephew John in Ireland. Michael died in 1873 when probably only twenty three years old, it is said Mary never married. Jimmy Sticks is a Scots singer songwriter bluesman and ace guitarist - Joe Kerr is a folk allrounder singer songwriter and sometimes busker Harmonica Dave Toussaint is a celebrated London harmonica player and occasional player of the Jews Harp. Kind Regards Jim Clark All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2015