Lyr Req: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)

Subject: When Margaret was Eleven
From: red flag
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 01:31 PM

Hello My name is Tom,

And I'm looking for the words to a song by Pete st John called when Margaret was Eleven.

I would really gratefull to anyone who could do this for me.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN (Pete St. John)
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 02:24 PM

I think Pete just recorded it, this says Padraig Pearse wrote it.......


WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
Padraig PearsePete St. John

My father waved farewell, and the band played tunes of glory
A giant man in ribbons, and bedevilled dignity
A regimental sergeant, the backbone of the empire
For God and righteous glory bound for High Germany

CHORUS: Sweet Lord, I was just seven
When Margaret was eleven
They served us war for breakfast, and soldier's songs for tea
"Your daddy's gone campaigning"
was their way of not explaining
That soldiers are the living proof of our inhumanity

My childhood passed away 'midst tales and lurid stories
Of manufactured glories, and inhuman gallantry
I asked "When is it over?", but no one deemed to answer me
And Margaret played that dreaded tune called High Germany

My father made it home, but he came without his reason
Two eyes of molten madness, a senseless fool of war
"He's just a child," my mother cried, "To be dressed in full regalia,
And paraded as a hero home from High Germany."

There'll be no more tunes of glory for Margaret and me...

From:http://www.sixmilebridge.com/html/water.html#margaret

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret was Eleven
From: MartinRyan
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 05:15 PM

I think Pearse was a bit too busy a schoolteacher to have written that one! Click here for Pete St. John's homepage listing all his songs.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret was Eleven
From: MartinRyan
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 05:19 PM

Had a look at that site. I've never heard the group but they have a few howlers in their notes, I'm afraid!

Regards

Subject: Lyr Add: TUNES OF GLORY (Pete St John)
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 05:34 PM

Tom is right, definitely written by Pete St John, not Padraig Pearse, and the correct title, as far as I know, is 'Tunes of Glory'. Still, the lyrics don't seem to bei in Forum or DT. You can also find them here if you scroll down far enough. (The file hasn't been split into files for individual songs yet.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret was Eleven
From: red flag
Date: 10 Oct 01 - 03:22 PM

Thank you all

Subject: ADD: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 12:55 AM

Big Mick gave me his Pete St. John songbook because he thought I would be more likely to post songs from it. So, here's what I think are the official Pete St. John lyrics. It's clear that Pete St. John is the songwriter, despite what's said above.

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
(Pete St. John)

Chorus:
Sweet Lord, I was just seven, when Margaret was eleven
They served us war for breakfast and soldiers' songs for tea
Your father's gone campaigning, was a way of not explaining
That soldiers are the living proof of our inhumanity.

My father said farewell, and the band played tunes of glory
A giant man with ribbons and bedeviled dignity.
A regimental sergeant, the backbone of the Empire,
For God and righteous glory, bound for High Germany.

My childhood passed away midst tales and lurid stories
Of manufactured glories and inhuman gallantry.
I asked, "When is war over," but no one deemed to answer me,
And Margaret played the dreaded tune called High Germany

My father made it home, but he came without his reason;
Two eyes of molten madness, a senseless fool of war.
He's just a child, my mother cried, To be dressed in full regalia
And paraded as a hero home from High Germany.

from The Fields of Athenry: Songs of Pete St. John (Soodlum/Walton Mnf. Ltd., 1985)


Alternate titles for the song are "Margaret and Me," and "Tunes of Glory."

Subject: RE: ADD: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 10:06 AM

That should be 'deigned,' not 'deemed,' in the third verse.

A couple months ago I was on a river cruise on the Rhine. One night at dinner I talked with a wonderful Englishman named John. John came to remark, "When I was fighting in the war (WW II), we didn't say we were fighting the Germans, we said we were fighting the Nazis."

That is a Very Important Point.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Nov 13 - 11:21 AM

I have done some searching on Spotify and on Allmusic.com and I have found the following recordings:

MARGARET AND ME
As recorded by Rodney Cordner & Jean Pierre Rudolph on "One of the Few" (2006)

MARGARET AND ME
As recorded by John Close on "Man's Inhumanity to Man" (2013)
and "36 Irish Love Ballads" (2013)
and "The Celtic Collection" (1998)
and "Celtic Heritage" (2006)
and "Irish Favourites" (2008)
and "Irish Collection" (2008)

MARGARET AND ME
As recorded by The Irish Tenor Trio on "Great Irish Love Ballads" (2011)

MARGARET AND ME
As recorded by Arthur Johnstone on "North by North" (1991)

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
As recorded by Malinky on "Flower & Iron" (2008)

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
As recorded by The Dubliners on "Prodigal Sons" (2011)

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
As recorded by The Celtic Folk on "Rainbow Flight" (1982)

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
As recorded by Joe Giltrap on "The Mountains of Mourne" (date?)

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
As recorded by Ronnie Drew & the Dubliners on "Ronnie Drew with the Dubliners" (2000)

WHEN MARGARET WAS ELEVEN
As recorded by Stephen's Green on "20th Anniversary Reunion: 1988-2008" (2008)

And since Joe Offer said it was also known by the title TUNES OF GLORY, I also checked out songs by that title. I found it usually refers to a different song, a lively one that begins "When the pipes are ringin' and the kilts are swingin'...." That one is sung by Andy Stewart (the older one, not Andy M. Stewart) and others. The New Zealand Army Band has also used the title TUNES OF GLORY for a medley of various band tunes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Nov 13 - 07:21 PM

It is also on Youtube by a number of people.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)
From: GUEST,Julian Hoffmann
Date: 22 May 16 - 08:53 PM

What is that tune ''High Germany'' exactly?
Is it refering to the song, that the Dubliners and many more sang?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When Margaret Was Eleven (Pete St. John)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 May 16 - 11:47 AM

Info about "High Germany" songs here:

https://mainlynorfolk.info/shirley.collins/songs/highergermanie.html

none of which ever had any militaristic use.

Waste of time expecting any historical sense out of a bigot like St John, though.