Lillibullero: Difference between revisions

"'''Lillibullero'''" (also spelledspelt Lillibulero, Lilliburlero, or Lilli Burlero) is a [[march (music)|march]] composedattributed byto [[Henry Purcell]] that became popular in England at the time of the [[Glorious Revolution]] of [[1688]].

Also in 1686, [[Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton|Lord Thomas, Lord Wharton]] composed lyrics for Purcell's tune. The rakish Wharton was satirizing [[James II of England|King James II's]] appointment of [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell]] as [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]]. Wharton's conceit is a sarcastic conversation between two Irishmen about the imminent arrival of the Catholic Talbot, and its dire implications for the Protestants.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|169}} "LillibulleroLilliburlero" (with ''-rl'') was the watchword used by Irish Catholics during the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641]].<ref name="Percy">Percy, Thomas. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dhBNAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA358#v=onepage&q&f=falseReliques of Ancient English Poetry]'', Vol. 2. 1765.</ref>{{rp|358}}

The song initially made very little impression on the public. However, when James II began transferring Irish regiments to England in [[1688]], [[Broadside_Broadside (printing)|broadsides]] of the lyrics were printed, and "Lillibullero" became immensely popular by October.<ref name="Crump">Crump, Galbraith M. [ed], ''Poems on Affairs of State, Augustan Satirical Verse, 1660-1714'' Vol IV, 1685-1688. Yale, New Haven and London, 1968.</ref>{{rp|310}} It spread as a popular street song in English towns, and especially inside English barracks to mock the arriving Irish regiments.<ref name="Mac">Macaulay, Thomas Babington. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cT8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA169#v=onepage&q&f=false History of England], Vol. 3.'' 1869.</ref><ref name="Burnet">Burnet, Gilbert. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=W2ZZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA792#v=onepage&q&f=false Bishop Burnet's History of His Own time]'', Volume 1. 1724.</ref>{{rp|792}}

Wharton boasted that he had "sung a deluded Prince out of three kingdoms".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=S8dbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=a%20true%20relation%20intended%20riot%20queen's%20birthday&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false A true relation of the several facts and circumstances of the intended riot and tumult on Queen Elizabeth's birthday], 1711. 5.</ref> Many alternate versions cropped up during these tumultuous days. By 17 November an anti-Dutch parody of the original, "A New Song Upon the Hogen Mogens" was in circulation, drawing on popular animosity against the Dutch, who had been the national enemy for a generation, in order to counter the original's appeal of the original.<ref name="Crump" />{{rp|314}}

The song parodies the widespread Irish belief in prophecy{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} ("there was an old prophecy found in a bog, that Ireland'd be ruled by an ass and a dog"). Talbot, as well as being a name, is [[Talbot (dog)|a breed of hound]] or hunting dog. A common theme of such prophecies was that the foreigners would be driven out of Ireland in some decisive battle.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} See the [[Siege of Limerick (1690)|Siege of Limerick]] for an example of these attitudes. The song's title and the words of the refrain have been interpreted as a garbled version of the [[Irish language|Irish]] words ''An Lile ba léir é, ba linn an lá'', "LillyThe Lily was cleareverywhere and ours was the day (i.e., we won
)". The lily may be a reference to the [[fleur de lis]] of France, or to the most celebrated astrologer of the mid -seventeenth century, [[William Lilly]], who became well known for prophesy at this time and to whom could readily be attributed foreknowledge that a Catholic would be king of England.<ref>Curry, Patrick "Prophesy and Power – Astrology in early Modern England" Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1992.</ref> Alternatively, the lyrics could mean, "Lilly is clear [about this], the day will be ours".

===''The Beggar's Opera''===

Purcell's music provided the tune for the highwayman Macheath's satire on modern society in [[John Gay]]'s ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'', which first premiered in 1728, using popular folk tunes for its score. Here, the lyrics are:

One of the best-known [[Parody_musicParody music|parodies]] of "Lillibullero" is the [[Ulster]] [[Protestant]] [[folksong|folk]] [[Lyrics|lyric]] called "Protestant Boys". The song is played by flute bands accompanying the [[Orange Institution|Orange Order]] during [[Orange_walkOrange walk|Orange or band-only parades]], which have been the subject of controversy during [[the Troubles]] in Northern Ireland.<ref>Singleton, Brian. ''Masculinities and the Contemporary Irish Theatre''. [[Palgrave Macmillan]], 2011. 210.</ref>

===There Was Anan Old Woman===

The 19th-century nursery rhyme "There Was Anan Old Woman Tossed Up in a Basket", published in the collection ''[[Mother Goose]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tigerlilyworkshop.com/Wordpp/Lilibur.html |title=Liliburlero |website=tigerlilyworkshop.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020614031905/http://tigerlilyworkshop.com/Wordpp/Lilibur.html |archive-date=2002-06-14}} </ref> has also been sung to this tune.

A well-regarded argument for the persistence of Lillibullero as a signature tune of the BBC World Service was that its powerful and simple structure was an effective means of identifying the broadcaster. The engineers who selected it were unaware of its origins, though a BBC World Service history states that the choice of interval theme at the time was that of "the transmission engineers who found it particularly audible through short wave mush, and anyway [the BBC] knew it as a tune for the old English song 'There was an old woman tossed up in a blanket, 20 times as high as the moon'. Another likely reason for the particular choice of this tune during [[World War II]] is that its beginning bars sound the '[[V sign#Second World War: V for Victory campaign|Victory V]]' rhythm (dit dit dit dah, repeated) i.e. the letter V in Morse code, which was used in various forms by the BBC in its home and foreign services."{{cncitation needed|date=November 2021}}

[[Laurence Sterne]]'s experimental and comic novel ''[[The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|Tristram Shandy]]'', prints the score to "Lillibullero" at the end of Chapter 17 in Book 9 after Tristram's uncle, Captain Toby Shandy, whistles the tune. A British Army veteran of the fighting in Ireland and the [[Low Countries]] during King William's reign, Toby whistles "Lillibullero" when he is offered any opinion or argument which would require passionate rebuttal or which he finds embarrassing or upsetting.<ref>Sterne, Laurence. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RpVBAQAAMAAJ&newbks=0&vq=tristram%20shandy%20lillibullero&dqq=tristram%20shandy%20lillibullero&pg=PA259#v=onepage&q&f=false The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman]''. J.F. Taylor, 1904. 259–261.</ref>

In [[Walter Scott|Sir Walter Scott's]] novel ''[[Waverley (novel)|Waverley]]'', the highland Chieftain Fergus Mac-Ivor sings a verse of "Lillibulero" during a dinner before he and his comrades prepare for battle on the side of [[Charles_Edward_StuartCharles Edward Stuart|the Pretender]].<ref>Scott, Walter. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=mJILAAAAIAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=waverley&pg=PA323#v=onepage&q&f=false Waverley]''. Oxford University Press, 1912. 323.</ref>

One of the scoundrels in [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[Treasure Island]]'' (Chapter XVI) whistles the tune, whose title is mentioned four times.<ref>Stevenson, Robert Louis. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=V-JDAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=treasure%20island&pg=RA1-PA125#v=onepage&q&f=false Treasure Island]''. New York: Current Literature Publishing, 1910. 125.</ref>

One of [[Kage Baker]]'s principal characters of ''[[The Life of the World to Come]]'', Alec, loves this tune and it is referenced by him several times. This is likely connected to his well-known love for Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Treasure Island''.<ref>Baker, Kage. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=iPFesC-ohmoC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PP1&dq=the%20life%20of%20the%20world%20to%20come&pg=PA254#v=onepage&q&f=false The Life of the World to Come]''. Macmillan, 2004. 254.</ref>

Henry Purcell subsequently arranged the melody for a keyboard piece titled "A New Irish Tune". The composition was a contribution to a [[Method_Method (music)|method book]] for [[virginals]] and [[harpsichord|harpsichords]]s called ''Musick's Hand-Maid''. "A New Irish Tune" was included in the Second Part of ''Musick's Hand-Maid'', published by [[Henry Playford]].<ref>Playford, Henry. ''The Second Part of Musick's Hand-Maid''. 1689.</ref>

The basic melody of "Lillibulero" appears to have been adapted by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] for the theme of the first movement of his [[Piano_Sonata_NoPiano Sonata No._11_ 11 (Mozart)|Piano Sonata No. 11]] in A major, K. 331 (1783). Since then, other composers have written variations on the Mozartean theme in which the relationship to Lillibulero is made even clearer, for example, [[Max Reger]]'s [[Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart]], Op. 132 (1914).