Annotation:No Surrender
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NO SURRENDER. AKA and see "Gates of Derry, "Old Derry March." Irish, March (6/8 time). Ireland, Ulster. D Major (Levey): C Major (Howe, Mulvihill): B Flat Major (O'Neill): A Major (Connolly & Martin). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Howe, Mulvihill, O'Neill): AABB (Levey): AABB' (Connolly & Martin). Joyce (1873) records that this tune was well known in Ulster and was traditionally used for the marching tune at the yearly celebration of the shutting and opening of the gates of Derry; "its use has with great probability descended form the period of the siege itself." This tune resembles "Over the River to Charlie," though the American musicologist Samuel Bayard (1981) could not determine if it is derivative, or whether the original air was altered by emphasizing some parts or de-emphasizing others. O'Neill (1922) notes: "(My) setting of "No Surrender"...was taken from a manuscript volume of Irish melodies compiled by H. [Henry] Hudson, 24 Stephens Green, Dublin in the years 1840-41. After the name comes the notation: 'From Ordnance Survey of Londonderry, vol. 1, page 197.' From the remarks accompanying the famous old march in Dr. Joyce's Ancient Irish Music (Dublin 1890), we quote:
It is printed in the Ordnance Memoir of Londonderry where, however, it is practically inaccessible to the general public, as that book is very scarce. It has long been appropriated as the marching tune of the yearly celebration of the shutting and opening of the gates of Derry.
It may be of interest to add that the siege of Derry occurred in 1689. We may be pardoned for remarking that Dr. Joyce's arrangement is in the Scale of C although both settings were derived from the same scarce publication." Joyce believed the melody to be well-known to the musicians of parts of Ulster, but seldom heard in other provinces. Fiddler Séamus Connolly (2002) remarks that the melody is related to the song "Beidh Ríl Againn," which he learned in primary school. Mulvihill indicates the tempo is slow.
Source for notated version: Seán Óg Ó Tuama (originally from Cork City) [Connolly & Martin].
Printed sources: Connolly & Martin (Forget Me Not), 2002; pp. 82-83. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p. 19. Joyce (Ancient Irish Music), 1873/1890; No. 81, p. 83. Levey (The Dance Music of Ireland, 2nd Collection), 1873; No. 50, p. 22. McDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), c. 1920’s; No. 116, p. 30 (appears as "Gates of Derry"). Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 57, p. 131. O'Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody), 1922; No. 80.
Recorded sources: