Summary
"But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise And you should not I'll gently rise and softly call Goodnight and joy be to you all"
The Parting Glass was written in Scotland and has criss-crossed the Irish Sea, becoming a popular song among Celtic peoples around the world.
Folk singer Karine Polwart, talks of its fragile beauty as a song that can be a rousing drinking song at the end of the night but equally a poignant farewell at a funeral.
For Alaskan Fire Chief Benjamin Fleagle, there was no more fitting song to honour his mentor and colleague at his Fire Department when he passed away over a decade ago.
Alissa McCulloch 'clung' to the song when she heard the Irish singer Hozier sing a version of it at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. At the time, Alissa was mentally unwell at home in Australia and was admitted to hospital where she listened to the song over and over finding comfort in its timeless beauty.
After Canada's worst mass shooting in its history, Pete MacDonald and his sisters recorded an acapella version of the song as a musical tribute to those who lost their lives. It's a tradition in Nova Scotia to sing in the kitchen at parties, wakes and celebrations and they wanted to pay their respects to the dead.
Irish singer Finbar Furey has performed the song with his band the Fureys and talks about its appeal not only in Scotland and Ireland but throughout the Scots-Irish diaspora.
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Maggie Ayre
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2021.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.2 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.3 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse |
| 0:21.2 | range of skills and strengths, we have trained journalists, people who love digging through |
| 0:26.0 | archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. So if |
| 0:31.8 | you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories |
| 0:37.1 | from all around the UK. BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:40.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:44.3 | A parting glass would be the kind of last drink that you would offer someone as they were leaving. |
| 0:50.2 | If someone was going off on a big journey, it would be the kind of good luck drink that you would offer |
| 0:55.6 | to send them well on their way. |
| 0:59.0 | But, you know, nowadays it would be a toast that you would give to someone to say farewell. |
| 1:03.5 | And it's the toast also that you would offer a wake or a funeral. |
| 1:06.9 | Of all the money that I have... My name is Karin'Rour. |
| 1:20.6 | My name is Karim Paulwer. |
| 1:22.6 | I am a folk singer based half an hour south of Edinburgh. |
| 1:30.2 | And the parting glass is a really big song in the folk music tradition, both in Scotland and Ireland |
| 1:33.8 | and in other parts of the world. |
| 1:35.8 | You know, it straddles that line between it being |
| 1:37.4 | it's both beautiful and convivial |
... |
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