Na Píobairí Uilleann

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An Píobaire

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7 2 26 20110510 26 The Emigrant’s Farewell Our ship, she is ready to sail away And it’s come, my sweet comrades, o’er the stormy sea Her snow-white wings are all unfurled And soon will swim in a watery world. Chorus (after each verse): Don’t forget, love, do not grieve For my heart is true and cannot deceive My hand and heart I will give to thee So farewell, my love, and remember me. Farewell, sweet Dublin’s hills and braes To Killiney Mountain’s silvery streams Where many’s the fine long summer’s day We loitered hours of joy away. It’s now I must bid a long adieu To Wicklow and its beauties, too. Avoca’s vales where lovers meet There to discourse in accents sweet. Farewell, sweet Delgany, likewise the glen, The Dargle waterfall and then The lovely scenes surrounding Bray Shall be my thoughts when far away. See page 15 for the air of the above song, which was performed by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh during the PIPERLINK presentation in Temple Bar last March. The air was notated from memory, and not directly from Muireann’s performance. CHINA C ONSIDERING THAT THE population of Ire- land is around one fifth of Beijing’s population of 20 million (indeed, there are more people in the Chaoyang district of the city where I live than there are on the whole is- land) Ireland’s profile is very high in China. Ask Beijing passers-by the first three things they think of when they hear of Ireland and you get some remarkable answers, a cross between the well-informed and the slightly bizarre. Li Hao, 32, says: “U2, the uilleann pipes and the Irish army,” while Mr Chen, 33, also chooses the uilleann pipes (I have no idea where this comes from), cycling races and the economic crisis. For Zhang Hongli, 32, Ireland is “windmills, coffee and Riverdance”. Su Rui, 28, also goes for the uilleann pipes but men- tions cold weather and the Troubles. Mr Jiao, 42, appears a little out of touch, say- ing: “Football, football, football.” Bian Xi- aosong, 31, mentions Ireland’s beautiful coastline and checked shirts. And uilleann pipes again. The above article is an extract from a feature that appeared in The Irish Times on March 15, 2011, and dealt with perceptions of Ireland in countries around the world. It is reprinted with the permis- sion of The Irish Times. ~ As Others See Us ~ How the World Sees Ireland CLIFFORD COONAN

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