"And the tears of the people ran together"

When I lived in Scotland fifteen years ago, I could see the separation of Protestants and Catholics in sports teams, like the Glasgow Celtics (Catholic) and the Glasgow Rangers (Protestant). I would hear about brawls after football matches and would wonder if it had to do with the game or religion. I could also see the religious separation in schools. Each school was either Catholic or Protestant, and it didn’t matter what religion you were, you went to one of them. Although the Scots have strong feelings about religion and English dominion over Scotland, it doesn’t have the same history as Ireland. The religious and political dynamic is more complex. Glassie writes, “The troubles have hurt, not killed, the neighborly ethic. The neighbors of ‘the other side’ are no threat. It is those hooligans in Belfast, those foreign soldiers, those bloody politicians. Without concurring on solutions or the ultimate reasons for conflict, Protestants and Catholics will say the immediate cause is the Big Boys who live elsewhere and find it to their own benefit, profit, or prestige to keep the people fighting” (150). While reading the book, I was reminded of a song I heard a couple of years ago called “There were Roses,” sung by Cara Dillon. I found a performance on Youtube of Dillon singing the song at a Celtic Festival last year. The recording is not complete, so I have included the words of the song with the recording.

There were Roses
Words and music by Tommy Sands
Sung by Cara Dillon

My song for you this evening, it's not to make you sad
Nor for adding to the sorrows of our troubled northern land
But lately I've been thinking and it just won't leave my mind
I'll tell you of two friends on the time who were both good friends of mine

Isaac he was Protestant and Sean was Catholic born
But it never made a difference, for the friendship it was strong
And sometimes in the evening when we heard the sound of drums
We said it won't divide us, we will always be as one

There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people ran together

It was on a Sunday morning when the awful news came round
Another killing had been done just outside Newry Town
We knew that Isaac danced up there, we knew he liked the band
But when we heard that he was dead we just could not understand

Now fear it filled the countryside there was fear in every home
When late at night a car came prowling round the Ryan Road
A Catholic would be killed tonight to even up the score
Oh Christ it's young McDonald they have taken from the door

There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people ran together

Isaac was my friend he cried. He begged them with his tears.
But centuries of hatred have ears that do not hear.
An Eye for an eye was all that filled their minds.
And another eye for another eye until everyone is blind.

I don't know where the moral is or where this song should end
But I wonder just how many wars are fought between good friends
And those who give the orders are not the ones to die
It's Scott and young McDonald and the likes of you and I

There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people ran together



-Colleen Murphy