The Parting Glass

"The Parting Glass" is a Scottish traditional song, often sung at the end of a gathering of friends.[1][2][3] It was purportedly the most popular parting song sung in Scotland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne".[1] It has also long been sung in Ireland, enjoying considerable popularity to this day.[3]

History

Referent

The "parting glass", or "stirrup cup", or "le coup de l'étrier" was the final hospitality offered to a departing guest. Once they had mounted, they were presented one final drink to fortify them for their travels. The custom was practised in several continental countries.[4]

Text

The earliest known printed version was as a broadside in the 1770s and it first appeared in book form in Scots Songs by Herd.[1] An early version is sometimes attributed to Sir Alex Boswell. The text is doubtless older than its 1770 appearance in broadside, as it was recorded in the Skene Manuscript, a collection of Scottish airs written at various dates between 1615 and 1635.[5] It was known at least as early as 1605, when a portion of the first stanza was written in a farewell letter, as a poem now known as "Armstrong's Goodnight", by one of the Border Reivers executed that year for the murder in 1600 of Sir John Carmichael, Warden of the Scottish West March.[6]

Exact lyrics vary between arrangements, but they include most, if not all, of the following stanzas appearing in different orders:

The Parting Glass Lyrics[7][8][9]
1	Of all the money that e'er I had I spent it in good company And all the harm I've ever done Alas it was to none but me And all I've done for want of wit To mem'ry now I can't recall So fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be to you all
2	So fill to me the parting glass And drink a health whate’er befall, And gently rise and softly call Good night and joy be to you all
3	Of all the comrades that e'er I had They're sorry for my going away And all the sweethearts that e'er I had They'd wish me one more day to stay But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise and you should not I gently rise and softly call Good night and joy be to you all
5	If I had money enough to spend And leisure time to sit awhile There is a fair maid in this town That sorely has my heart beguiled. Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips I own she has my heart in thrall Then fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be with you all.
6	[First verse in the Scots version] A man may drink and not be drunk A man may fight and not be slain A man may court a pretty girl And perhaps be welcomed back again But since it has so ought to be By a time to rise and a time to fall Come fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be with you all Good night and joy be with you all

Tune

The earliest known appearance of the tune today associated with this text is as a fiddle tune called "The Peacock", included in James Aird's A Selection of Scots, English, Irish and Foreign Airs in 1782.[10][11][12]

Robert Burns referred to the air in 1786 as "Good night, and joy be wi' ye a'." when using it to accompany his Masonic lyric "The Farewell. To the brethren of St. James's Lodge, Tarbolton".[13][14]

In 1800–1802, the song was incorrectly attributed to Joseph Haydn by Sigismund von Neukomm (1778-1858), who entered it in the Hoboken catalogue as "Good night and joy be wi' ye. Hob XXXIa 254. Mi mineur",[15] which text has been wrongly attributed to Sir Alexander Boswell (1775-1822).

Patrick Weston Joyce, in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909), gives the tune with a different text under the name "Sweet Cootehill Town," noting, "The air seems to have been used indeed as a general farewell tune, so that—from the words of another song of the same class—it is often called 'Good night and joy be with you all.'"[16] The celebrated Irish folk song collector Colm Ó Lochlainn has taken note of this identity of melodies between "The Parting Glass" and "Sweet Cootehill Town".[17] "Sweet Cootehill Town" is another traditional farewell song, this time involving a man leaving Ireland to go to America.

The tune appeared, with sacred lyrics, in 19th century American tunebooks. "Shouting Hymn" in Jeremiah Ingalls's Christian Harmony (1805) is a related tune.[18] The tune achieved wider currency among shape note singers with its publication, associated with a text first known in the 1814 Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, "Come Now Ye Lovely Social Band", in William Walker's Southern Harmony (1835), and in The Sacred Harp (1844).[19][20] This form of the song is still widely sung by Sacred Harp singers under the title "Clamanda".

Modern adaptations

"The Parting Glass" was re-introduced to mid-20th century audiences by the recordings and performances of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.[21] Their rendition featured a solo vocal by youngest brother Liam and first appeared on their 1959 Tradition Records LP Come Fill Your Glass with Us as well as on a number of subsequent recordings, including the group's high-charting live performance album, In Person at Carnegie Hall.[22] The rendition by the Clancys and Makem has been described as "by all accounts... the most influential" of the many recorded versions.[11]

The song "Restless Farewell", written by Bob Dylan and featured on The Times They Are a-Changin' from 1964, uses the melody of the nineteenth century versions of "The Parting Glass" with Dylan's original lyrics. Dylan had learned the tune from the singing of the Clancys and Makem.[11]

In 1998, the traditional words were set to a new, different melody (reminiscent of Mo Ghile Mear, another Irish traditional song) by Irish composer Shaun Davey. In 2002, he orchestrated this version for orchestra, choir, pipes, fiddle, and percussion to commemorate the opening of the Helix Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland. His version appears in the film Waking Ned Devine.

Actor Pierce Brosnan performed a version of this song in the 2002 movie Evelyn.

The band The High Kings also recorded a version of this song in 2004.

Actresses Emily Kinney and Lauren Cohan performed a rendition of this song in the season three premiere episode "Seed" of The Walking Dead. It also appears on the soundtrack, The Walking Dead: Original Soundtrack – Vol. 1.

It was sung by Anne Bonny (played by Sarah Greene) at the ending of the video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

It was sung by The Wailin' Jennys in the film Wildlike.

It was sung in the TV series Cranford by Joe McFadden in 2007.

Damh the Bard recorded a cover for his album "Tales from the Crow Man" in 2009.

Ed Sheeran did a cover as a hidden track at the end of the last song "Give Me Love" on his 2011 album +.

The Birmingham, Alabama based band Jasper Coal did a rendition of the song on their album "Drowning the Shamrock" in 2013.

Antje Duvekot included the song as the 11th and last song on her 2016 album, "Toward the Thunder."

The song is often sung in a multipart Harmony by the Celtic Woman group

Trey Anastasio Band started performing the song live in 2017.

Rosanne Cash covered the song on her 2018 album She Remembers Everything.

Hozier performed the song on the Late Late Show in honour of those who died from COVID-19 in March 2020. It was released 17 April 2020 with proceeds going to ISPCC.[23]

Recordings

Year	Artist	Release	Notes
1959	The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem	Come Fill Your Glass with Us
1968	The Dubliners	Drinkin' and Courtin'
1979	Ronnie Drew (of The Dubliners)	Together Again
1981	Robin Williamson	Songs of Love and Parting
1982	Ryan's Fancy	Irish Love Songs
1985	The Pogues	"The Parting Glass" (single); 2004 re-release of Rum Sodomy & the Lash
1994	John McDermott	Old Friends	A cappella
1994	Father, Son and Friends	Rebels, Rogues & Rascals
1996	Poxy Boggards	Bawdy Parts - Original and Traditional Songs of Drinking and Revelry
1997	Sarah McQuaid	When Two Lovers Meet	Unaccompanied but double-tracked: not the tune most commonly used
1998	Steeleye Span	Horkstow Grange
1998	Liam O'Maonlai and The Voice Squad		Recording with an original melody by Shaun Davey for the closing titles of the movie Waking Ned Devine
2002	Sinéad O'Connor	Sean-Nós Nua
2002	Stephen Fearing	That's How I Walk
2003	The Tossers	Purgatory	Hidden track
2003	Voice Male	Approved	Belgian all-male a cappella group
2004	The Wailin' Jennys	40 Days	A cappella
2007	Mark Seymour	Titanic
2007	Thea Gilmore	The Threads EP
2008	The Holy Sea	A Beginner's Guide to the Sea
2008	The High Kings	The High Kings
2008	Cara Dillon	Hill of Thieves
2009	Krister Henriksson	Snurra min jord	as "Ett sista glas", Swedish translation by Lars Forssell
2009	The Spooky Men's Chorale	Deep
2010	Luke Macfarlane		Brothers & Sisters – Season 4, Episode 23
2010	Loreena McKennitt	The Wind That Shakes the Barley
2011	Hannah Peel	The Broken Wave
2011	Celtic Woman	Celtic Woman: Believe
2011	Ed Sheeran	+	Hidden track
2011	The Felice Brothers	God Bless You Amigo
2011	Bruce Guthro	Celtic Crossing
2012	Emily Kinney and Lauren Cohan	The Walking Dead: Original Soundtrack – Vol. 1	Recorded for The Walking Dead – Season 3, Episode 1[24]
2013	UCD Choral Scholars	The Parting Glass (EP)
2013	Face Vocal Band	How Was the Show Last Night
2013	Celtic Woman	Celtic Woman: Emerald - Musical Gems
2013	Sarah Greene	Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag	Sung by Anne Bonny (played by Sarah Greene) during the game's end credits.[25]
2014	Gregory Page	Gregory Page – One Way Journey Home
2014	Peter Hollens	Self-Titled
2014	Glen Hansard and guests	Ceiliúradh at Royal Albert Hall
2014	Sven-Bertil Taube	Hommage	as "Ett sista glas", Swedish translation by Lars Forssell
2015	Damien Leith	Songs From Ireland	No.11 album in Australia
2015	Scythian	Old Tin Can
2015	MacPiet	Listen and RePiet
2015	Tom Paxton	Redemption Road
2015	O'Hooley & Tidow	Summat's Brewin'
2015	Miriam Bryant	Så mycket bättre 2015	as "Ett sista glas", Swedish translation by Lars Forssell
2016	Paul Kelly (Australian musician)	Death's Dateless Night
2016	Siobhan Owen	Entwined
2016	Alexander Armstrong	Upon a Different Shore
2017	Trey Anastasio Band	Live Phish Series	various 2017 live shows
2017	Ye Banished Privateers	First Night Back in Port	Hidden track
2017	Lasse Wellander	Lasse Wellander 2017/2018
2017	Dermot Kennedy		Live performance
2018	The Hound + The Fox	"The Parting Glass" - Single	Youtube video
2018	Anna Prosser Robinson		Original Twitter post (recorded as a farewell to Evelyn Marthain, a character from Dice Camera Action, an official Dungeons & Dragons weekly livestream)
2020	Hozier	The Parting Glass (Live from the Late Late Show) - Single	Performed and recorded on the Late Late Show in honour of those who died from COVID-19 in March 2020, with proceeds going to ISPCC.[26]

References

1. "The Parting Glass". Contemplator.com. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
2. "The parting Glass was popular in Ireland and Scotland". 14 June 2013.
3. Hanberry, Gerard (24 April 2019). "The Parting Glass" – via www.rte.ie. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Levett Hanson (1811). Miscellaneous compositions in verse / illustrated by occasional prefatory specific , and copious explanatory notes. Copenhagen: J. F. Schultz.
5. George Grove and John Alexander Fuller-Maitland. (1908.) Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The Macmillan Company, p. 479.
6. George MacDonald Fraser. (1995.) Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers, Harper Collins, London, pp. 140–143.
7. "Ed Sheeran - Parting Glass Lyrics | MetroLyrics". www.metrolyrics.com. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
8. "The Parting Glass Lyrics". www.lyrics.com. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
9. "Digital Tradition - Parting Glass Lyrics and Chords". https://mudcat.org. Retrieved 2 March 2020. External link in |website= (help)
10. James Aird. A Selection of Scots, English, Irish and Foreign Airs. 2. p. 6. OCLC 43221159.
11. Kloss, Jürgen (3 March 2012). "Some Notes On The History Of "The Parting Glass"". Just Another Tune: Songs and Their History. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
12. Aird 1782 at IMSLP, p. 6.
13. Robert Burns (1786). Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect. Kilmarnock: J. Wilson. p. 228.
14. The Songs of Robert Burns : with music (Centenary ed.). Glasgow: D. Jack. 1859. p. 10.
15. "[Good night and joy be wi' ye. Hob XXXIa 254. Mi mineur] anglais". Catalogue Général. bnf.fr.
16. "Old Irish folk music and songs : a collection of 842 Irish airs and songs, hitherto unpublished". London : Longmans, Green. 2 May 1909 – via Internet Archive.
17. O Lochlainn, Colm. Irish Street Ballads, Pan, 1978, p. 225
18. "Shouting Hymn" in Ingalls's Christian Harmony
19. "Prof. Warren Steel's page".
20. ""Clamanda" in The Sacred Harp (1991 revision)".
21. Biege, Bernd (3 March 2019). "The Parting Glass". Tripsavvy.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
22. "Top LP's". Billboard. 75 (51): 10. 21 December 1963.
23. "Andrew Hozier Byrne on Instagram: "Happy to announce the performance of the Parting Glass from @latelaterte will be out this Friday on all platforms with all proceeds going…"". Instagram. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
24. "'The Walking Dead' Sisters Get Mournful on 'The Parting Glass' – Premiere". Rolling Stone. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
25. "Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag - 'Parting Glass' Ending Song".
26. "Andrew Hozier Byrne on Instagram: "Happy to announce the performance of the Parting Glass from @latelaterte will be out this Friday on all platforms with all proceeds going…"". Instagram. Retrieved 14 April 2020.