The Maid of Mourne Shore – Traditional Irish Love Ballad (Sam Henry Collection, Irish Folk Song)

0:00 Intro 0:14 Outro 0:28 Verse 3 0:41 Verse 2 0:55 Chorus The Maid of Mourne Shore is a traditional Irish love ballad collected by Sam Henry in the 1920s–1930s, though it had already been sung in Ulster and across Ireland since the 19th century. It tells the story of a young man’s courtship, rejection, and farewell as he leaves his homeland by the Mourne coast. The melody of this ballad — also known as The Moorlough Shore — is the same air later used for The Foggy Dew. In 1919, Canon Charles O’Neill adapted the tune and borrowed imagery from The Maid of Mourne Shore when writing his famous Easter Rising ballad. While The Foggy Dew became widely known, this earlier song preserves the original folk tradition and heartfelt poetry. 🎶 Discover more Just Irish Music playlists: 👉 All Original Music ✨ Other songs you may enjoy: The Maid Has Sold Her Barley →    • The Maid Has Sold Her Barley – 19th Centur...   The Banshee Calling →    • The Banshee Calling - A Haunting Irish Bal...   The Fenian Boy →    • The Fenian Boy (Ballad of Billy Byrne) 179...   Hear more here:    • Just Irish Music Love Songs   #IrishBallad #MaidOfMourneShore #SamHenryCollection #IrishMusic #CelticFolk #TraditionalIrish #IrishHistory #IrishFolkSong #FolkBallad #FoggyDewMelody Follow & Support Just Irish Music: 🎥 YouTube:    / @justirishmusic   🎶 TikTok:   / justirishmusic   🎵 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/3143x74... 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/JustIrishMusic 📸 Instagram:   / justirishmusic   📘 Facebook:   / justirishmusic   [Verse 1] Ye hills and dales, and flowery vales That lie by Mourne's fair shore Ye winds that blow o’er Martin’s hills Will I hear your voice no more? Where primrose grows and violet blows, And the sporting trout there plays, With line and hook, delight I took To spend my youthful days. [Verse 2] Last night I went to see my love, To hear what she might say, Thinking she’d take some pity on me Lest I should go away. She said, “I love a sailor lad, He’s the one that I adore; And seven years I’ll wait on him, So trouble me no more.” [Verse 3] “Perhaps your sailor may be lost While crossing o’er the main, Or else has fixed his heart upon Some comely, fair young dame.” “Well if the sea proves false to me, No other lad I’ll enjoy; For ever since I saw his face I’ve loved my sailor boy.” [Verse 4] Farewell to Lord Edmund’s leafy groves, Likewise the bleaching green, Where linen webs lie clean and white, And pure flows the crystal stream. Where many’s the happy day I spent, But now, alas, they’re o’er— Since the lass I love has banished me Far, far from Mourne shore. [Verse 5] Our ship now lies off Warren’s Point, All ready to set sail, May Heaven guard and safely guide her With a sweet and pleasant gale. Had I ten thousand pounds in gold, Or had I ten times more, I’d freely share with the girl I love The maid of Mourne shore.