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"Whiskey in the Jar" is a famous Irish traditional song about a highwayman (usually in the Cork and Kerry mountains), who is betrayed by his wife or lover. One of the most widely performed traditional Irish songs, it is also particularly known through its 1970s chart version by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. It is sung with many variants on locations and names; a typical version begins:

As I was a-walkin round Kilgary Mountain
I met Colonel Pepper and his money he was countin',
I rattled me pistols and I drew forth me saber,
Sayin' "Stand and deliver, for I am the bold deceiver!"
Musha rig um du rum da, / Whack fol the daddy O,
Whack fol the daddy O, / There's whiskey in the jar.^[1]

Recordings

The song has been recorded by folk groups such as The Dubliners, The Pogues, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Seekers, The Highwaymen, Roger Whittaker, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Irish Rovers, the Poxy Boggards, Seven Nations, The Limeliters, King Creosote, Axel the Sot, and the Brobdingnagian Bards.

It was also given a rock veneer by Thin Lizzy, with iconic lead singer Phil Lynott. The 1972 Irish release stayed at the top of the Irish charts for 17 weeks, and the British release stayed in the top 30 for 12 weeks, peaking at No. 6, in 1973.^[2]

Thin Lizzy's version has since been covered by U2, Pulp (1995), Smokie, Metallica (1998, their version won a Grammy), Belle & Sebastian, and Gary Moore (2006).

Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and David Grisman recorded a Bluegrass cover of this song together.

The Celtic rock band, Off Kilter has also covered this song, appearing on their albums The Live Tracks and Kick It.

Lillebjørn Nilsen adapted it to Norwegian, as Svikefulle Mari, on his 1971 album Tilbake.^[3] Finnish band Eläkeläiset recorded a humppa version as the title track of their 1997 album Humppamaratooni. In 2007 the Lars Lilholt Band made a Danish version, Gi' mig whiskey in the jar, appearing in the album Smukkere med tiden.^[4]

Metallica, an iconic U.S. heavy metal band, has done a rousing and popular cover in the United States, for many who had never heard the song before in any variation.

History

The song's exact origins are unknown. A number of its lines and the general plot resemble those of a contemporary broadside ballad Patrick Fleming (also called Patrick Flemmen he was a Valiant Souldier) about an Irish highwayman executed in 1650^[5]^[6]

In the book The Folk Songs of North America, folk music historian Alan Lomax suggests that the song originated in the 17th century, and (based on plot similarities) that John Gay's 1728 The Beggar's Opera was inspired by Gay hearing an Irish ballad-monger singing Whiskey in the Jar. In regard to the history of the song, Lomax states, "The folk of seventeenth century Britain liked and admired their local highwaymen; and in Ireland (or Scotland) where the gentlemen of the roads robbed English landlords, they were regarded as national patriots. Such feelings inspired this rollicking ballad."^[7]

At some point, the song came to the United States and was a favorite in Colonial America because of its irreverent attitude towards British officials. The American versions are sometimes set in America and deal with American characters. One such version, from Massachusetts, is about Alan McCollister, an Irish-American soldier who is sentenced to death by hanging for robbing British officials.^[7]

The song appeared in a form close to its modern version in a precursor called The Sporting Hero, or, Whiskey in the Bar in a mid-1850s broadsheet.^[8]

Story

"Whiskey in the Jar" is the tale of a highwayman who, after robbing a corrupt military or government official ("for I am a bold deceiver"), is betrayed by a woman named Jenny or Ginny; whether she is his wife or sweetheart is not made clear. Various versions of the song take place in Kerry, Kilmagenny, Cork, Gilgarra Mountain, Sligo Town, and other locales throughout Ireland. The narrator of the song is not named. The only consistently named figures are the sweetheart who betrays the narrator, "Jenny/Ginny", and the Anglo-Irish official, "Captain Farrell", neither of which aids in the dating of the song. The song ends with the narrator dreaming of escape and fleeing the town of his imprisonment to pursue his love of 'the good life.' The Thin Lizzy version differs from the traditional one by dropping two verses and changing the lyrics of the second and third verse into a different interpretation of the story while sticking to the main idea slightly. They also change the name of the female lover from Jenny to Molly, as in the Garcia/Grisman version.

References

^ Folk Songs of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, ed. William Cole, arr. Norman Monath, Cornerstone Library, New York, 1961.
^ Phil Lynott: The Rocker, Mark Putterford, Omnibus Press, 2002, ISBN 0711991049 Google Books (retrieved 11 July 2008)
^ Tilbake, musikkonline.no
^ Track listing, Lars Lilholt Band official site (retrieved 11 July 2008)
^ Patrick Flemming, Folklore Home Page, California State University, Fresno (retrieved 10 July 2008)
^ Patrick Fleming, The Complete Newgate Calendar Vol. I, Law in Popular Culture collection, Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin (retrieved 10 July 2008)
^ ^a ^b The Folk Songs of North America: In the English Language, Alan Lomax, Peggy Seeger, Mátyás Seiber, Don Banks, Doubleday, 1960 Google Books (retrieved 11 July 2008
^ The sporting hero, Firth c.17(314), Bodleian Library Catalogue of Ballads (retrieved 10 July 2008)

External links

[1] Folk Songs of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, ed. William Cole, arr. Norman Monath, Cornerstone Library, New York, 1961.

[2] Phil Lynott: The Rocker, Mark Putterford, Omnibus Press, 2002, ISBN 0711991049 Google Books (retrieved 11 July 2008)

[3] Tilbake, musikkonline.no

[4] Track listing, Lars Lilholt Band official site (retrieved 11 July 2008)

[5] Patrick Flemming, Folklore Home Page, California State University, Fresno (retrieved 10 July 2008)

[6] Patrick Fleming, The Complete Newgate Calendar Vol. I, Law in Popular Culture collection, Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin (retrieved 10 July 2008)

[fsna-7] The Folk Songs of North America: In the English Language, Alan Lomax, Peggy Seeger, Mátyás Seiber, Don Banks, Doubleday, 1960 Google Books (retrieved 11 July 2008

[bod-8] The sporting hero, Firth c.17(314), Bodleian Library Catalogue of Ballads (retrieved 10 July 2008)

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