1. The poem was written on the death of Robert Emmet, an Irish nationalist sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered by the British in 1803 for his part in the Dublin uprising. As Moore wrote in a later edition of the Irish Melodies, the song was suggested by the ‘well-known passage in Robert Emmet’s dying speech, “Let no man write my epitaph […] let my tomb remain uninscribed, till other times and other men shall learn to do justice to my memory.” ’ The choice of this poem was possibly suggested to Duparc by his Irish-born wife, Ellie MacSwiney.

1. The background to this ballad is as follows: ‘The people were inspired with such a spirit of honour, virtue, and religion, by the great example of Brien, and by his excellent administration, that, as a proof of it, we are informed that a young lady of great beauty, adorned with jewels and a costly dress, undertook a journey alone, from one end of the kingdom to the other, with a wand only in her hand, at the top of which was a ring of exceeding great value; and such an impression had the laws and government of this monarch made on the minds of all the people, that no attempt was made upon her honour, nor was she robbed of her clothes or jewels’ (Warner’s History of Ireland, Vol. I, Book X].

1. From Moore’s National Airs, where it is subtitled ‘Venetian Air’.

1. From Moore’s National Airs, where it is subtitled ‘Venetian Air’.

1. From Moore’s National Airs.

1. The theme of this subversive poem, masquerading as a flower poem, is the slaughter of many young Irish lives in their struggle against the English – wonderfully suggested by Britten in the jarring chords and lugubrious harmonies of the accompaniment.

2. The melody in its earliest form dates from c.1660 and was sung by itinerant harpers across Ireland. Richard Alfred Milliken used it in The Groves of Blarney (c.1798), and Moore accepted it as an ancient song. Count Frederick von Flotow included the melody in Martha (1847), increasing its popularity still further.