St Patrick's day is a day to celebrate immigrants. One hundred years ago it was the Irish and the Italians who were at the center of our long national struggle over immigration.
The Irish were accused of stealing jobs, lowering wages, bringing disease and causing crime, in fact they were targets of the anti-immigrant groups of the time. They faced discrimination and hateful rhetoric. Yet, they worked hard, learned to play politics and never backed down... and now we all celebrate the Irish.
This is my homage to the immigrants of past centuries...
Quote:
NO IRISH NEED APPLY
I'm a decent boy just landed
From the town of Ballyfad;
I want a situation, yes,
And want it very bad.
I have seen employment advertised,
"It's just the thing," says I,
"But the dirty spalpeen ended with
'No Irish Need Apply.' "
"Whoa," says I, "that's an insult,
But to get the place I'll try,"
So I went to see the blackguard
With his "No Irish Need Apply."
Some do count it a misfortune
To be christened Pat or Dan,
But to me it is an honor
To be born an Irishman.
I started out to find the house,
I got it mighty soon;
There I found the old chap seated,
He was reading the Tribune.
I told him what I came for,
When he in a rage did fly,
"No!" he says, "You are a Paddy,
And no Irish need apply."
Then I gets my dander rising
And I'd like to black his eye
To tell an Irish gentleman
"No Irish Need Apply."
Some do count it a misfortune
To be christened Pat or Dan,
But to me it is an honor
To be born an Irishman.
I couldn't stand it longer
So a hold of him I took,
And gave him such a welting
As he'd get at Donnybrook.
He hollered, "Milia murther,"
And to get away did try,
And swore he'd never write again
"No Irish Need Apply."
Well he made a big apology,
I told him then goodbye,
Saying, "When next you want a beating,
Write `No Irish Need Apply.' "
Some do count it a misfortune
To be christened Pat or Dan,
But to me it is an honor
To be born an Irishman.
Such a celebration would not be complete without some Springsteen
Quote:
What is this land of America, so many travel there
I'm going now while I'm still young, my darling meet me there
Wish me luck my lovely, I'll send for you when I can
And we'll make our home in the American land
Over there all the woman wear silk and satin to their knees*
And children dear, the sweets, I hear, are growing on the trees*
Gold comes rushing out the river straight into your hands*
If you make your home in the American land*
There's diamonds in the sidewalks, there's gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land
I docked at Ellis Island in a city of light and spire
I wandered to the valley of red-hot steel and fire****
We made the steel that built the cities with the sweat of our two hands
And I made my home in the American land
There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land
The McNicholas, the Posalski's, the Smiths, Zerillis too**
The Blacks, the Irish, the Italians, the Germans and the Jews
The Puerto Ricans, illegals, the Asians, Arabs miles from home***-*****
Come across the water with a fire down below******
They died building the railroads, worked to bones and skin
They died in the fields and factories, names scattered in the wind
They died to get here a hundred years ago, they're dyin' now
The hands that built the country we're all trying to keep down
There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land
Who will make his home in the American land
Who will make his home in the American land
0 Replies
Setanta
1
Reply
Sun 15 Mar, 2009 01:16 pm
I always hated the commercial Irish, and especially am offended by the perpetuation of the stereotype which associates the Irish with drunkenness. Speaking as a descendant of the Irish, of course . . .
St Patrick's day is a day to celebrate immigrants. One hundred years ago it was the Irish and the Italians who were at the center of our long national struggle over immigration.
I think the statement above can be misconstrued to a reader that the Irish and Italians were holding arms in symbolic brotherhood 100 years ago, as they struggled as immigrants. I think that would be wrong, if that is the image being painted.
The great waves of Irish came here with the famine, that was not really a famine, since the British were exporting food out of Ireland during that period. The Irish were being starved. That was around 1850. Germans also came after the Revolution of 1848. Jews came, starting in 1880 with the Czar's pogroms. Italians came mostly after the turn of the century (1900) with the work available in building the NY subway.
The different ethnicities lived either in separate neighborhoods, or at least on separate blocks. No love was lost between many groups.
The Irish ran Tammany Hall by 1900, while the non-German immigrant groups were still living a tenement existence (many Germans came here middle class and were living on tree-lined streets two weeks after arrival).
I am talking New York history; is that not the only history that counts?
Of course the Italians and Irish stood together. They had common experiences, common aspirations and common foes. Irish and Italians ended up working together politically and socially.
(It's funny how often Pete Seeger comes up in discussions such as this.)
Quote:
When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.
CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union makes us strong.
Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong.
It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade;
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
But the union makes us strong.
All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.
In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.
I miss jjorge's threads on Irish poetry that he used to start on the run-up to Paddy's Day.
Anyone know what happened to jjorge? He hasn't been here since 2007.
Happy Paddy's Day, all (almost over, here!)
0 Replies
Setanta
1
Reply
Tue 17 Mar, 2009 04:41 am
Jesus, E_Brown, you have no shame, do you? What does that drek from Pete Seger have to do with the Irish, and the commercial St. Patrick's Day holiday? About the only thing the Irish and the Italians had in common was catholicism, which lead them to form an alliance of mutual contempt for political purposes.
You're sure layin' on the bullshit with a trowel over this one.
Make way for the Molly McGuires
They're drinkers they're liars but they're men
Make way for the Molly McGuires
You'll never see the likes of them again
Down the mines no sunlight shines
Those pits they're black as hell
In mud and slime they do their time
Its paddy's prison cell
And they curse the day they travelled far
And drown their tears in a jar
Backs will break and muscles ache
Down there there's no time to dream
Of fields and farms a woman's arms
Just dig that bloody seam
Though they drain their bodies underground
Who'd dare to push them around
A bit of local Irish music that was written about a small group of Pennsylvania anthracite miners.
0 Replies
Setanta
1
Reply
Tue 17 Mar, 2009 04:50 am
My goat is out back in the shed, General . . . you're not going to be able to get him . . .
“May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”
0 Replies
farmerman
1
Reply
Tue 17 Mar, 2009 05:34 am
@Setanta,
Well just get a Pinkerton man over there. He can fake some evidence that yer goat is engaged inunlawful behavior. Hell get a fair trial and a beeaauuteeful hangin.
That was the MO, wasn't it . . . the Arthur Conan Doyle-Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear was based on that dodge, very loosely based . . . of course, it made a hero of the Pinkerton man . . .
0 Replies
BumbleBeeBoogie
1
Reply
Tue 17 Mar, 2009 09:04 am
You can sing while preparing dinner. ---BBB
Cooking with Guinness on St Patrick's Day
Published: Thursday | March 12, 2009
St Patrick's Day is an annual feast day which celebrates St Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland. It is generally celebrated on March 17. Parties, get-togethers, and family dinners wouldn't be complete without corned beef and cabbage and traditional Irish dishes. By wearing green, eating Irish food or green foods and imbibing Irish drinks such as Guinness, you too can celebrate St Patrick's Day. Why not try these recipes?
Island Beef Stew and Guinness - Ingredients
1 kg stewing beef, cubed
500ml Guinness
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks scallion, finely chopped
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs Picka Peppa sauce
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs flour
1 whole Scotch bonnet
2 sprigs thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs vegetable oil
1. In a large Dutch pot, brown the beef in batches over high heat and remove from pan.
2. Reduce heat to medium and to the same pan, add onions, sauté until soft, then add the carrots and scallion and continue cooking for another couple of minutes until carrots are tender.
3. Add garlic, mix well and sauté for a minute more.
4. Mix in the flour to coat the vegetables.
5. Pour in 250 ml of the stout and deglaze the pan and reduce by half.
6. Add the Picka Peppa sauce, tomato paste, bay leaves, scotch bonnet, thyme, brown sugar and the rest of the stout.
7. Replace the browned beef to the pot with any accumulated juices and bring back to a boil.
8. Reduce heat and simmer on a gentle heat until the sauce is thick and the meat is fork-tender.
9. Season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
Makes four healthy servings.
Note: If slightly bitter, you can add a little more brown sugar for your desired taste.
Jamaican Spiced Ginger Loaf with Guinness - Ingredients
1 cup Guinness
3/4 cup Jamaican molasses
3/4 cup Jamaican logwood honey
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground pimento
3 large eggs
1 tbs grated oragne peel
1 heaped tbs finely chopped, crystallised ginger
1. Preheat oven to 325F/160C.
2. Butter a 9 x 12 inch baking dish.
3. In a non-reactive saucepan, add stout, molasses, honey, brown sugar and butter and warm through over low heat. Keep stirring until the ingredients have melted and are combined.
4. Remove from heat and add to a bowl; cool down.
5. When the mixture has cooled, add the eggs one at a time and beat until well combined.
6. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, pimento and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
7. Pour in the liquid ingredients a little at a time and fold into the dry ingredients until a batter is formed.
8. Gently stir in the crystallised ginger pieces and orange peel.
9. Bake in oven for one hour and 30 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool, then serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.
Yields 12 portions.
0 Replies
High Seas
-2
Reply
Tue 17 Mar, 2009 09:52 am
@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:
Jesus, E_Brown, you have no shame, do you? ............
You're sure layin' on the bullshit with a trowel over this one.
What's with the surprise, Setanta? That has been standard operating procedure for EDIT: MODERATOR: PERSONAL INFORMATION REMOVED since he started posting here. When made to confront his scurrilous inanities and outright lies he just runs off the thread and starts over with another topic. I'll post some examples in a moment...
Example 2 (in addition to the one noted by Setanta, above) of crass fabrication by EDIT: MODERATOR: PERSONAL INFORMATION REMOVED, on the subject of mathematics: http://able2know.org/topic/129961-2#post-3596967
Further examples abound, but I find this fake, flake, liar, fraud, and accomplice of criminals so sickening that posting them might ruin everyone's St Patrick's day - and btw, trying to appropriate a perfectly good holiday in order to promote a vile agenda is truly beneath contempt, though not beneath Mr Brown-Monoz's usual location.
Best wishes to all those who actually celebrate this holiday!
It seems like you two have some things to talk about.
0 Replies
ebrown p
1
Reply
Tue 17 Mar, 2009 11:29 am
Setanta and High Seas.
The title of this thread is "Songs celebrating immigrants for St. Patrick's day".
The key phrase is "Songs celebrating immigrants" which is a simple enough concept. If there is any objection to this, I should think it would be a question of whether St. Patrick's day has any connection to immigrants (which I suppose is debatable). I guess the question of whether immigrants should be celebrated is also apropos, but the title of this thread is intended to imply that I take this for granted.
Of course, celebrating immigrants is a political act (which I personally have no problem with) and singing is very often a political act as the songs involved demonstrate. So I suppose objections are to be expected.
But this thread is, as advertised, about "Songs celebrating immigrants...".
You each are welcome to contribute if you have any good songs.
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