Citizendia

For other uses, see Garryowen (disambiguation).
Crest of the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment
Crest of the U. S. 69th Infantry Regiment
Crest of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry Regiment
Crest of the U. S. Seventh Cavalry Regiment

Garryowen, also known as Garyowen, Garry Owen and Gary Owens, is an Irish tune for a quickstep dance. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Quickstep is an International Style Ballroom dance that follows a 2/4 or 4/4 time beat similar to a fast Foxtrot. (MIDI file)

Contents

History

The origins of Garryowen are unclear, but it emerged in the late eighteenth century, when it was a drinking song of rich young roisters in Limerick. Limerick (pronounced /ˈlɪmrɪk/ Luimneach in Irish) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the Province of Munster It obtained immediate popularity in the British Army through the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, who were garrisoned in Limerick and was played throughout the Napoleonic War, becoming the regimental march of the 18th Foot (The Royal Irish Regiment). The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. The 5th Royal Irish Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British army formed in 1689 as Owen Wynne's Dragoons. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions

A very early reference to the tune appears in The Life of the Duke of Wellington by Jocquim Hayward Stocqueler, published in 1853. The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is an hereditary title and the senior rank in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. J H Stocqueler ( 21 July 1801 - 14 March 1886) was a journalist government employee entrepreneur and inventor in England, He describes the defence of the town of Tarifa in late December 1811, during the Peninsular War. Tarifa is a small town on the southernmost coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence pitted an alliance of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal against France General H. Gough, later Field Marshall Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, commanding officer of the 87th Regiment (at that time known as the Royal Irish Fusiliers), after repulsing an attack by French Grenadiers ". Field Marshal Hugh Gough 1st Viscount Gough, KP, GCSI, KCB, PC ( November 3, 1779 - March 2, The Royal Irish Fusiliers was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, raised originally as 87 Prince of Wales's Irish Regiment of Foot in 1793 and later combined . . was not, however, merely satisfied with resistance. When the enemy, scared, ran from the walls, he drew his sword, made the band strike up 'Garry Owen', and followed the fugitives for two or three hundred yards. "

Garryowen was also a favourite in the Crimean War. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought The tune has also been associated with a number of British military units, and is the authorised regimental march of The Irish Regiment of Canada. 2nd Battalion The Irish Regiment of Canada is a Primary Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Canadian Forces based in Sudbury, Ontario It was the regimental march of the Liverpool Irish, British Army. The Liverpool Irish is a unit of the British Territorial Army, raised in 1860 as a volunteer corps of Infantry. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It is the regimental march of the London Irish Rifles (now part of The London Regiment (TA)). It was also the regimental march of the 50th (The Queen's Own) Foot (later The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment) until 1869.

Garryowen became the marching tune for the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York Militia, (the famed "Fighting 69th" ) in the mid-1800s. } The 69th Infantry Regiment is a military unit from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. The "Fighting 69th" adopted Garry Owen before the Civil War and recently brought it back to combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom

It later became the marching tune for the US 7th Cavalry Regiment during the late 1800s. The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign The tune was a favorite of General George Armstrong Custer and became the official air of the Regiment in 1867. According to legend it was the last tune played before the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Battle of the Little Bighorn &mdashalso known as Custer's Last Stand, and in the parlance of the relevant Native Americans, the Battle of the Greasy Grass

The name of the tune has become a part of the regiment, the words Garry Owen are part of the regimental crest, and there is a Camp Garry Owen, north of Seoul, Korea, which houses part of the 4th Squadron of the regiment. The Seventh Cavalry regiment became a part of the US 1st Cavalry Division in 1921, and "Garryowen" became the official tune of the division in 1981. The 1st Cavalry Division ( "First Team") is a rapidly deployable heavy Armored division of the United States Army with base of operations

The word garryowen is derived from Irish, the proper name Eóghan ("born of the yew tree") and the word for garden garrai - thus "Eóghan's Garden". Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. The term refers to an area of the town of Limerick, Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

In 1993, the popular Civil War Music Company, The 97th Regimental Stringband, recorded 'Garryowen' on their 'Marching Along' (Volume 6), a CD of Marching tunes.

Lyrics

There are many versions of lyrics for Garryowen, including one for the 7th Cavalry, but the traditional version is:

1. Let Bacchus' sons be not dismayed
But join with me, each jovial blade
Come, drink and sing and lend your aid
To help me with the chorus:


Chorus:

Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.


2. We are the boys who take delight
In smashing Limerick lamps at night,
And through the street like sportsters fight,
Tearing all before us
Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.


3. We'll break the windows, we'll break down doors,
The watch knock down by threes and fours,
And let the doctors work their cures,
And tinker up our bruised
Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.


4. We'll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
We'll make the mayor and sheriffs run
We are the boys no man dares dun
If he regards a whole skin.
Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.


5. Our hearts so stout have got us fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.
Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.

Appearance in film and television

Appearance in literature

External resources

The Digital Tradition database has a number of entries about this tune.

Historical Resources

References

Some information taken from the resources listed above.

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