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{{Short description|Traditional British/Irish folk song}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2013}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2013}}
{{Listen|filename=Black Velvet Band - Celtic Aire - United States Air Force Band.mp3|title="The Black Velvet Band"|description=Performed by Celtic Aire of the [[United States Air Force Band]]}}
{{Listen|filename=Black Velvet Band - Celtic Aire - United States Air Force Band.mp3|title="The Black Velvet Band"|description=Performed by Celtic Aire of the [[United States Air Force Band]]}}


'''"The Black Velvet Band"''' ([[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud]] number 2146) is a traditional [[Folk music|folk song]] collected from singers in Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and the United States describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to [[Penal transportation|transportation]] to [[Australia]], a common punishment in the [[British Empire]] during the 19th century. Versions were also published on [[Broadside ballad|broadsides]].
'''"The Black Velvet Band"''' ([[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud]] number 2146) is a traditional [[Folk music|folk song]] collected from singers in Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and the United States describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to [[Penal transportation|transportation]] to [[Australia]], a common punishment in the [[British Empire]] during the 19th century. Versions were also published on [[Broadside ballad|broadsides]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Velvet Band – Lyrical Analysis – Irish Studies |url=https://irishstudies.sunygeneseoenglish.org/working-title-music/black-velvet-band-lyrical-analysis/ |access-date=2022-09-25 |website=irishstudies.sunygeneseoenglish.org}}</ref>


[[The Dubliners]] released a popular version of the song in 1967 based on a version sung by the traditional English singer [[Harry Cox]].
[[The Dubliners]] released a popular version of the song in 1967 based on a version sung by the traditional English singer [[Harry Cox]].


==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
[[File:Barclay's Dictionary Van Dieman's Land.jpg|thumb|Old map of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)]]
The narrator is bound apprentice in a town (which varies in different versions). He becomes romantically involved with a young woman. She steals a watch and places it in his pocket or in his hand. The apprentice appears in court the next day, and is sentenced to seven years penal servitude in [[Van Diemen's Land]] (Tasmania). In the broadside versions the young woman's motivation is more obvious - she has met a sailor and wants to get rid of her lover.
The narrator is bound apprentice in a town (which varies in different versions). He becomes romantically involved with a young woman. She steals a watch and places it in his pocket or in his hand. The apprentice does not try to stop this from happening, which is speculated to be out of his love for the girl.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Velvet Band Irish folk song about betrayal |url=https://www.irishmusicdaily.com/black-velvet-band |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Irish Music Daily |language=en-us}}</ref> However the man does wish bad luck towards the woman, as seen in the line "Bad luck to the black velvet band".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Irish Song Lyrics - Black Velvet Band |url=https://www.irishsongs.com/lyrics.php?Action=view&Song_id=43 |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=www.irishsongs.com}}</ref> The apprentice appears in court the next day, and is sentenced to seven years penal servitude in [[Van Diemen's Land]] (Tasmania); as at this point in time Australia was being used as a prison colony.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transportation records (Ireland to Australia) held by the National Archives of Ireland (as filmed by the AJCP) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-919437026 |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> In the broadside versions the young woman's motivation is more obvious - she has met a sailor and wants to get rid of her lover.


In the broadsides the action takes place in [[Ratcliffe Highway]], a street in the [[East End of London]], but in collected versions various locations are mentioned - [[London]], [[Belfast]], [[Tralee]], a town in [[Bedfordshire]], and in [[Dunmanway]], [[County Cork|Co. Cork]].
In the broadsides the action takes place in [[Ratcliffe Highway]], a street in the [[East End of London]], but in collected versions various locations are mentioned - [[London]]; [[Belfast]]; [[Tralee]]; a town in [[Bedfordshire]]; and [[Dunmanway]], [[County Cork]].


==Versions==
==Versions==
The Roud Index has 98 entries for this song, comprising broadside ballads, versions collected from traditional singers, and field recordings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vwml.org/search/search-roud-indexes?roudredirect=1&qtext=Roud%202146&ts=1482098581476&collectionfilter=RoudFS;RoudBS&orderby=place |title=Vaughan Williams Memorial Library - Roud Folksong and Broadside indexes |access-date=2016-12-18 |archive-date=2016-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220174318/http://www.vwml.org/search/search-roud-indexes?roudredirect=1&qtext=Roud%202146&ts=1482098581476&collectionfilter=RoudFS;RoudBS&orderby=place |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The [[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud Index]] has 98 entries for this song, comprising broadside ballads, versions collected from traditional singers, and field recordings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vwml.org/search/search-roud-indexes?roudredirect=1&qtext=Roud%202146&ts=1482098581476&collectionfilter=RoudFS;RoudBS&orderby=place |title=Vaughan Williams Memorial Library - Roud Folksong and Broadside indexes |access-date=2016-12-18 |archive-date=2016-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220174318/http://www.vwml.org/search/search-roud-indexes?roudredirect=1&qtext=Roud%202146&ts=1482098581476&collectionfilter=RoudFS;RoudBS&orderby=place |url-status=dead }}</ref>


It was published as a broadside ballad by Swindells of Manchester some time between 1796 and 1853, and by H. Such of London sometime between 1863 and 1885.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/roud/2146|title = Ballads Online|website=Ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk}}</ref>
It was published as a broadside ballad by Swindells of Manchester some time between 1796 and 1853, and by H. Such of London sometime between 1863 and 1885.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/roud/2146|title = Ballads Online|website=Ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk}}</ref>


Versions of the song have been collected from [[Dorset]], [[County Durham|Co. Durham]], [[Hampshire]], London, [[Norfolk]], [[Suffolk]], [[Sussex]], [[Isles of Scilly]], and [[Worcestershire]] in England, from Belfast, [[County Antrim|Co. Antrim]], and Co. Cork in Ireland, from [[Western Australia]], [[Queensland]], and [[New South Wales]] in Australia and from [[Ontario]], Canada, and [[Maine]], USA. The earliest collected version listed was collected by George Gardiner from Alfred Goodyear of [[Axford, Hampshire|Axford]], Hampshire, England in July 1907.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/GG/1/13/803|title=The Black Velvet Band (George Gardiner Manuscript Collection GG/1/13/803)|website=Vwml.org|access-date=5 November 2021}}</ref> Both Alfred Goodyear's version and one collected by [[Clive Carey]] from Mrs Terry of [[Trotton with Chithurst|Chithurst]], Sussex, in 1911 (and set in Belfast)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vwml.org/record/CC/1/20|title = In a Town Called Belfast (Clive Carey Manuscript Collection CC/1/20)|website=Vwml.org}}</ref> contain the "Her eyes they shone like diamonds" chorus also collected from [[Harry Cox]].
Versions of the song have been collected from [[Dorset]], [[County Durham|Co. Durham]], [[Hampshire]], London, [[Norfolk]], [[Suffolk]], [[Sussex]], [[Isles of Scilly]], and [[Worcestershire]] in England, from Belfast, [[County Antrim]], and County Cork in Ireland, from [[Western Australia]], [[Queensland]], and [[New South Wales]] in Australia and from [[Ontario]], Canada, and [[Maine]], USA. The earliest collected version listed was collected by [[George Gardiner (folk-song collector)|George Gardiner]] from Alfred Goodyear of [[Axford, Hampshire|Axford]], Hampshire, England in July 1907.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/GG/1/13/803|title=The Black Velvet Band (George Gardiner Manuscript Collection GG/1/13/803)|website=Vwml.org|access-date=5 November 2021}}</ref> Both Alfred Goodyear's version and one collected by [[Clive Carey]] from Mrs Terry of [[Trotton with Chithurst|Chithurst]], Sussex, in 1911 (and set in Belfast)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vwml.org/record/CC/1/20|title = In a Town Called Belfast (Clive Carey Manuscript Collection CC/1/20)|website=Vwml.org}}</ref> contain the "Her eyes they shone like diamonds" chorus also collected from [[Harry Cox]].


While working for the [[BBC]], [[Peter Douglas Kennedy|Peter Kennedy]] recorded a version in Belfast in 1952. In 1959, a version was found in Australia. An earlier version by the publisher Swindells in [[Manchester]] is very wordy, and has no chorus. It places the events in [[Barking, London|Barking]], [[Essex]]. Some of the earliest versions mention [[the Old Bailey]] and [[London|London Town]].
While working for the [[BBC]], [[Peter Douglas Kennedy|Peter Kennedy]] recorded a version in Belfast in 1952. In 1959, a version was found in Australia. An earlier version by the publisher Swindells in [[Manchester]] is very wordy, and has no chorus. It places the events in [[Barking, London|Barking]], [[Essex]]. Some of the earliest versions mention [[the Old Bailey]] and [[London|London Town]].
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Following the [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland rugby team]]'s [[Grand Slam (rugby union)|Grand Slam]] win in [[2009 Six Nations Championship|2009]], winger [[Tommy Bowe]] sang his own version of 'Black Velvet Band' to a triumphant crowd on the team's homecoming on [[Dawson Street]], [[Dublin]].
Following the [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland rugby team]]'s [[Grand Slam (rugby union)|Grand Slam]] win in [[2009 Six Nations Championship|2009]], winger [[Tommy Bowe]] sang his own version of 'Black Velvet Band' to a triumphant crowd on the team's homecoming on [[Dawson Street]], [[Dublin]].

==Popular culture==

The song was used at least twice in the BBC's television series, [[Peaky Blinders (TV series)|Peaky Blinders]]. It can be heard in Seasons 1 and 6. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Collington |first1=Faefyx |title=Peaky Blinders Soundtrack Guide: Every Song In Season 6 |url=https://screenrant.com/peaky-blinders-season-6-soundtrack-guide-every-song/ |access-date=15 March 2023}}</ref>


==The Dubliners==
==The Dubliners==
{{Infobox song
{{Infobox song
| name = Black Velvet Band
| name = Black Velvet Band
| cover = Black Velvet Band.jpg
| cover = Black velvet band the dubliners UK single side-A.png
| alt =
| alt = side-A label
| caption = Side A of the UK single
| type = single
| type = single
| artist = [[The Dubliners]]
| artist = [[The Dubliners]]
Line 69: Line 76:
== Recordings ==
== Recordings ==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2019}}<!--would be nice if each entry had a date, too-->
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2019}}<!--would be nice if each entry had a date, too-->
* [[Ewan MacColl]] and [[Peggy Seeger]] on their Topic LP, ''Chorus from the Gallows'' (TSDL502, 1960)
* [[The Wolfe Tones]] on their album ''Up The Rebels'' in 1966. The song appears as "The Black Ribbon Band"
* [[The Wolfe Tones]] on their album ''Up The Rebels'' in 1966. The song appears as "The Black Ribbon Band"
* [[The Irish Rovers]] on their album ''[[The Unicorn (album)|The Unicorn]]'' in 1967. Single was released 1967 on the B side of ''[[The Unicorn (album)|The Unicorn]]''.
* [[The Irish Rovers]] on their album ''[[The Unicorn (album)|The Unicorn]]'' in 1967. Single was released 1967 on the B side of ''[[The Unicorn (album)|The Unicorn]]''.
* [[The Dubliners]] version reached number 15 on the [[UK Singles Chart]], number 4 in the [[Irish Singles Chart]] and number 28 in the European chart in 1967.<ref>''British Hit Singles &amp; Albums (Edition 18)'' (2005), Guinness World Records Ltd</ref>
* [[The Dubliners]] version reached number 15 on the [[UK Singles Chart]], number 4 in the [[Irish Singles Chart]] and number 28 in the European chart in 1967.<ref>''British Hit Singles &amp; Albums (Edition 18)'' (2005), Guinness World Records Ltd</ref>
* [[Ewan MacColl]] and [[Peggy Seeger]] on their Topic LP, ''Chorus from the Gallows'' (TSDL502, 1960)
* [[Carlton Showband]] on their Canadian RCA LP, ''A Night at the Pub'' (1967).
* [[Carlton Showband]] on their Canadian RCA LP, ''A Night at the Pub'' (1967).
* [[Harry Hibbs (musician)|Harry Hibbs]] on his Canadian debut LP ''At the Caribou Club'' (1968).
* [[Harry Hibbs (musician)|Harry Hibbs]] on his Canadian debut LP ''At the Caribou Club'' (1968).
* [[Dropkick Murphys]] on their album ''[[Blackout (Dropkick Murphys album)|Blackout]]'' (2003). Like many of Dropkick Murphys' recordings of Irish ballads, this version changes the setting to the band's home state of [[Massachusetts]], in this case the city of [[Brockton, Massachusetts|Brockton]].
* [[Dropkick Murphys]] on their album ''[[Blackout (Dropkick Murphys album)|Blackout]]'' (2003). Like many of [[Dropkick Murphys]]' recordings of Irish ballads, this version changes the setting to the band's home state of [[Massachusetts]], in this case the city of [[Brockton, Massachusetts|Brockton]].
* [[Four to the Bar]] on their live album ''[[Craic on the Road]]'' (1994), in a medley with "[[The Galway Shawl]]" and "[[The Wild Rover]]".
* [[Four to the Bar]] on their live album ''[[Craic on the Road]]'' (1994), in a medley with "[[The Galway Shawl]]" and "[[The Wild Rover]]".
* [[Bill Monroe]] (as "Girl In The Blue Velvet Band")
* [[Bill Monroe]] (as "Girl In The Blue Velvet Band")
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*[[Marc Gunn]] recorded it on his albums ''Irish Drinking Songs'' and a bluesy version on ''The Bridge'' and again with Jamie Haeuser on their album ''How America Saved Irish Music'' (2014).
*[[Marc Gunn]] recorded it on his albums ''Irish Drinking Songs'' and a bluesy version on ''The Bridge'' and again with Jamie Haeuser on their album ''How America Saved Irish Music'' (2014).
*[[Damien Leith]] recovered a version for his album ''[[Songs From Ireland]]'' released in Australia in 2015. It peaked at No.11 on the [[ARIA Charts]].
*[[Damien Leith]] recovered a version for his album ''[[Songs From Ireland]]'' released in Australia in 2015. It peaked at No.11 on the [[ARIA Charts]].
*[[Lionel Long]] recorded it on his 1998 album "Waltzing Matilda"


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 22:05, 22 May 2024

"The Black Velvet Band" (Roud number 2146) is a traditional folk song collected from singers in Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and the United States describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to transportation to Australia, a common punishment in the British Empire during the 19th century. Versions were also published on broadsides.[1]

The Dubliners released a popular version of the song in 1967 based on a version sung by the traditional English singer Harry Cox.

Synopsis

Old map of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

The narrator is bound apprentice in a town (which varies in different versions). He becomes romantically involved with a young woman. She steals a watch and places it in his pocket or in his hand. The apprentice does not try to stop this from happening, which is speculated to be out of his love for the girl.[2] However the man does wish bad luck towards the woman, as seen in the line "Bad luck to the black velvet band".[3] The apprentice appears in court the next day, and is sentenced to seven years penal servitude in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania); as at this point in time Australia was being used as a prison colony.[4] In the broadside versions the young woman's motivation is more obvious - she has met a sailor and wants to get rid of her lover.

In the broadsides the action takes place in Ratcliffe Highway, a street in the East End of London, but in collected versions various locations are mentioned - London; Belfast; Tralee; a town in Bedfordshire; and Dunmanway, County Cork.

Versions

The Roud Index has 98 entries for this song, comprising broadside ballads, versions collected from traditional singers, and field recordings.[5]

It was published as a broadside ballad by Swindells of Manchester some time between 1796 and 1853, and by H. Such of London sometime between 1863 and 1885.[6]

Versions of the song have been collected from Dorset, Co. Durham, Hampshire, London, Norfolk, Suffolk, Sussex, Isles of Scilly, and Worcestershire in England, from Belfast, County Antrim, and County Cork in Ireland, from Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales in Australia and from Ontario, Canada, and Maine, USA. The earliest collected version listed was collected by George Gardiner from Alfred Goodyear of Axford, Hampshire, England in July 1907.[7] Both Alfred Goodyear's version and one collected by Clive Carey from Mrs Terry of Chithurst, Sussex, in 1911 (and set in Belfast)[8] contain the "Her eyes they shone like diamonds" chorus also collected from Harry Cox.

While working for the BBC, Peter Kennedy recorded a version in Belfast in 1952. In 1959, a version was found in Australia. An earlier version by the publisher Swindells in Manchester is very wordy, and has no chorus. It places the events in Barking, Essex. Some of the earliest versions mention the Old Bailey and London Town. The publication date of that version is probably between 1837 and 1853.

An American song called "The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band", credited to Cliff Carlisle and Mel Forre, was recorded by Bill Monroe, Doc Watson and Mac Wiseman among others. It has a similar plot and may be loosely based on "Black Velvet Band".[citation needed]

Following the Ireland rugby team's Grand Slam win in 2009, winger Tommy Bowe sang his own version of 'Black Velvet Band' to a triumphant crowd on the team's homecoming on Dawson Street, Dublin.

The song was used at least twice in the BBC's television series, Peaky Blinders. It can be heard in Seasons 1 and 6. [9]

The Dubliners

"Black Velvet Band"
side-A label
Side A of the UK single
Single by The Dubliners
from the album A Drop of the Hard Stuff
B-side"Maloney Wants a Drink"
Released30 August 1967
GenreFolk, Irish, pop
Length3:45
LabelMajor Minor
Songwriter(s)Traditional
Producer(s)Tommy Scott
The Dubliners singles chronology
"Seven Drunken Nights"
(1967)
"Black Velvet Band"
(1967)
"All For Me Grog"
(1967)

The Dubliners version, possibly the best known, is slightly adapted from a version recorded by Ewan MacColl from the Norfolk singer Harry Cox in 1955, and recorded by MacColl and Peggy Seeger on their 1964 LP Chorus from the Gallows.[10]

Chart (1967) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 4
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 15

Recordings

References

  1. ^ "Black Velvet Band – Lyrical Analysis – Irish Studies". irishstudies.sunygeneseoenglish.org. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  2. ^ "Black Velvet Band Irish folk song about betrayal". Irish Music Daily. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  3. ^ "Irish Song Lyrics - Black Velvet Band". www.irishsongs.com. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  4. ^ "Transportation records (Ireland to Australia) held by the National Archives of Ireland (as filmed by the AJCP)". Trove. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  5. ^ "Vaughan Williams Memorial Library - Roud Folksong and Broadside indexes". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  6. ^ "Ballads Online". Ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
  7. ^ "The Black Velvet Band (George Gardiner Manuscript Collection GG/1/13/803)". Vwml.org. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  8. ^ "In a Town Called Belfast (Clive Carey Manuscript Collection CC/1/20)". Vwml.org.
  9. ^ Collington, Faefyx. "Peaky Blinders Soundtrack Guide: Every Song In Season 6". Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  10. ^ Notes to Harry Cox, The Bonny Labouring Boy, TSCD512D and Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seegar, Chorus from the Gallows Topic Records – 12T16
  11. ^ "Chart Track: Week 00, 1967". Irish Singles Chart.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  13. ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 18) (2005), Guinness World Records Ltd