Spancil Hill Performed by Joe Kerr & Michael Knight

"Here's the brilliant Scots singer songwriter and folk singer Joe Kerr and the then young Michael Knight on bodhrán, a talented multi instrumentalist at the point this video was made in 1998 just at the beginning of his musical Odyssey. 'Spancil Hill' is a song written in a traditional Irish folk style by Michael Considine. It bemoans the plight of the Irish immigrants who so longed for home from their new lives in America, many of whom went to California with the Gold Rush. This song is sung by a man who longs for his home in Spancilhill, his friends and the love he left there. All the characters and places in this song are real... The nearby Fair Green is used for the famous Spancilhill Horse Fair each year, on 23 June or on the following day if 23 June falls on a Sunday. At one time, Spancil Hill was said to be Ireland's largest fair with buyers from Britain, Russia, Prussia, and France competing to purchase the best stock for their Imperial armies. Michael Considine was born around 1850 and emigrated to the USA from Spancilhill at around 1870. At the age of 23, he suffered from ill health for a long time and, knowing he hadn't long to live, he wrote the poem "Spancilhill" to be sent home... and it was kept safe by his six year old nephew, John Considine. Jim Clark." Posted on Youtube on the 18th of April 2013 by acoustarchive.