Garryowen (air)

For other uses, see Garryowen (air) (disambiguation).

Crest of the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment

Crest of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry Regiment

Garryowen, also known as Garyowen, Garry Owen and Gary Owens, is an Irish tune for a quickstep dance. (MIDI file)

History

The origins of Garryowen are unclear, but it emerged in the late eighteenth century, when it was a drinking song of rich young roisters in Limerick. It obtained immediate popularity in the British Army through the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, who were garrisoned in Limerick and was played throughout the Napoleonic War, becoming the regimental march of the 18th Foot (The Royal Irish Regiment).

A very early reference to the tune appears in The Life of the Duke of Wellington by Jocquim Hayward Stocqueler, published in 1853. He describes the defence of the town of Tarifa in late December 1811, during the Peninsular War. General H. Gough, later Field Marshall Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, commanding officer of the 87th Regiment (at that time known as the Royal Irish Fusiliers), after repulsing an attack by French Grenadiers "...was not, however, merely satisfied with resistance. When the enemy, scared, ran from the walls, he drew his sword, made the band strike up 'Garry Owen', and followed the fugitives for two or three hundred yards."

Garryowen was also a favourite in the Crimean War. The tune has also been associated with a number of British military units, and is the authorised regimental march of The Irish Regiment of Canada. It was the regimental march of the Liverpool Irish, British Army. It is the regimental march of the London Irish Rifles (now part of The London Regiment (TA)). It was also the regimental march of the 50th (The Queen's Own) Foot (later The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment) until 1869.

Garryowen became the marching tune for the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York Militia, (the famed "Fighting 69th" ) in the mid-1800s. The "Fighting 69th" adopted Garry Owen before the Civil War and recently brought it back to combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom

It later became the marching tune for the US 7th Cavalry Regiment during the late 1800s. The tune was a favorite of General George Armstrong Custer and became the official air of the Regiment in 1867. According to legend it was the last tune played before the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

The name of the tune has become a part of the regiment, the words Garry Owen are part of the regimental crest, and there is a Camp Garry Owen, north of Seoul, Korea, which houses part of the 4th Squadron of the regiment.The Seventh Cavalry regiment became a part of the US 1st Cavalry Division in 1921, and "Garryowen" became the official tune of the division in 1981.

The word garryowen is derived from Irish, the proper name Eóghan ("born of the yew tree") and the word for garden garrai - thus "Eóghan's Garden". The term refers to an area of the town of Limerick, Ireland.

In 1993, the popular Civil War Music Company, The 97th Regimental Stringband, recorded 'Garryowen' on their 'Marching Along' (Volume 6), a CD of Marching tunes.

Lyrics

There are many versions of lyrics for Garryowen, including one for the 7th Cavalry, but the traditional version is:

1. Let Bacchus' sons be not dismayed

But join with me, each jovial blade

Come, drink and sing and lend your aid

To help me with the chorus:

Chorus:

Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale

And pay the reckoning on the nail;

No man for debt shall go to jail

From Garryowen in glory.

2. We are the boys who take delight

In smashing Limerick lamps at night,

And through the street like sportsters fight,

Tearing all before us

Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale

And pay the reckoning on the nail;

No man for debt shall go to jail

From Garryowen in glory.

3. We'll break the windows, we'll break down doors,

The watch knock down by threes and fours,

And let the doctors work their cures,

And tinker up our bruised

Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale

And pay the reckoning on the nail;

No man for debt shall go to jail

From Garryowen in glory.

4. We'll beat the bailiffs out of fun,

We'll make the mayor and sheriffs run

We are the boys no man dares dun

If he regards a whole skin.

Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale

And pay the reckoning on the nail;

No man for debt shall go to jail

From Garryowen in glory.

5. Our hearts so stout have got us fame

For soon 'tis known from whence we came

Where'er we go they fear the name

Of Garryowen in glory.

Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale

And pay the reckoning on the nail;

No man for debt shall go to jail

From Garryowen in glory.

Appearance in film and television

• The song is referenced several times in the movie We Were Soldiers although the tune itself is never heard in the final cut.
• The song is featured in the movie The Searchers(1956), Featuring John Wayne in what many consider one of the greatest westerns ever, as "Cavalry Crosses the Snowfield" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049730/
• The song is featured in the movie The Last Samurai during the Winchester exhibition.
• They Died with their Boots On (Errol Flynn 1941-lyrics actually sung).
• The Long Gray Line (Tyrone Power 1955-band company playing on the parade grounds at West Point and integrated throughout the score as a love theme between the main character Marty Maher and his wife-to-be Mary O'Donnell).
• Little Big Man (Dustin Hoffman 1970-fife instrumental played several times).
• Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) 1972- heard accompanying 7th Cavalry).
• Son of the Morning Star (Gary Cole 1991 - Whistled by Custer and his regiment on the march and played by a practicing band).
• Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, sung by the cavalry troopers and also used as part of the score.
• Pilot Pete Sandich played by Richard Dreyfuss whistles the tune while flying in Steven Spielberg's 1989 film Always.
• Played throughout the movie The Fighting 69th by Warner Bros. 1940 starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Alan Hale which chronicles the World War I exploits of the "Irish" 69th New York Infantry (redesignated the 165th U.S. Infantry upon America's entry into the war.)
• Instrumental played throughout and portion sang by a female vocalist (Elan Oberon) during a parade scene in the 1997 film Rough Riders.
• Played in Gangs of New York at an American Nativist society celebration - perhaps, ironically, given the song's immigrant heritage.
• The Searchers (1956) as "Cavalry Crosses the Snowfield"
• A version of it is played in the "Attack of the Hawkmen" episode of "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" as the men of the Lafayette Escadrille head off in a car to Paris to get Nungesser after he's been challenged to a dual by the Red Baron.
• A hard rock version of the song is played at the beginning of the BBC Documentary series, Decisive Weapons

Appearance in literature

• Mentioned in Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser. A slightly different set of lyrics appear in Fraser's book. Also mentioned in Flashman at the Charge, also by Frasier
• Used by the forces of Skye in the Mechwarrior novel, Flight of the Falcon by Victor Milan. It is also sung, with slightly different lyrics.
• In James Joyce's novel Ulysses, a character named "The Citizen" has a dog named Garryowen.
• In Winston Groom's novel Better Times Than These the song is mentioned several times.
• In Wayne Sayles' biography of [William Edward Cramsie][1], "First To Fall" several mentions of the song weave a cultural thread.

External resources

The Digital Tradition database has a number of entries about this tune.

• Traditional lyrics: "Garryowen"
• 7th Cavalry specific version: "Gary Owen"

Historical Resources

• 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers connection to the early history of Garryowen: Royal Irish Lancers
• 1st Squadron 7th Cavalry (history, song, etc.): US Army site
• 1st Cavalry Division (history): US Army site
• 7th U.S. Cavalry Assn. Legend of the "Garryowen"
• General Information: (2004.03.17) The "American Soldier" blog, no name or expertise cited, but the information is well-written, complete and meshes with other sources. Retrieved 2004.12.10.

References

Some information taken from the resources listed above.

• GlobalSecurity.org (2004) 4th Squadron 7th Cavalry Regiment Retrieved
• Lewis Winstock, Songs & Music of the Redcoats, 1642 - 1902, (1970)

• Walter Wood, The Romance of Regimental Marches, (1932)