Origins in “The Irish Rover” and similar songs
I see “The Irish Rover” is here listed as a barndance; I suppose this is because of the necessity of putting song tunes into the fit rhythmic category.
At any rate, I would be interested in learning more about the origin of this song. I am writing a PhD thesis on Ciaran Carson, and his Ballad of HMS Belfast seems clearly influenced by the ‘maritime genre’ of Irish folk ballad. I was wondering how old these maritime songs (like “The Holy Ground”, “Home Boys Home” and the like) are… Any idea?
Davide