"Spancil Hill" - Some Background:

"Spancil Hill" is an Irish-American folksong that may have been composed by one Michael Considine around 1900, though there's no written record to confirm that. Like many Irish-American folksongs, "Spancil Hill" speaks of longing for home, the green hills of Ireland and the friends and loved ones left behind there, in this case from the point of view of an Irishman living in California, probably during the gold rush.

Spancil Hill (also known as Spancilhill) is a small crossroads near Ennis in County Clare.

"Spancil Hill" Lyrics:

Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by
My mind been bent on rambling to Ireland I did fly
I stepped on board a vision and followed with a will
Until next I came to anchor at the cross near Spancil Hill.

Delighted by the novelty, enchanted with the scene
Where in my early boyhood where often I had been
I thought I heard a murmur and I think I hear it still
It's the little stream of water that flows down Spancil Hill.

To amuse a passing fancy, I lay down on the ground
And all my school companions they shortly gathered round
When we were home returning, we danced with bright goodwill
To Martin Moynahan's music at the cross of Spancil Hill.

It was on the twenty-fourth of June the day before the fair
When Ireland's sons and daughters and friends assembled there
The young, the old, the brave, and the bold came their duty to fulfill
At the parish church in Clooney, a mile from Spancil Hill.

I went to see my neighbors to see what they might say
The old ones they were dead and gone, the young ones turning grey
I met the tailor Quigley, he as bold as ever still
For he used to make my britches when I lived at Spancil Hill.

I paid a flying visit to my first and only love
She's as fair as any lily and gentle as a dove
She threw her arms around me, crying Johnny I love you still
She was a farmer's daughter, the pride of Spancil Hill.

Well I dreamt I hugged and kissed her as in the days of yore
She said, Johnny you're only joking as many the time before
The cock crew in the morning, he crew both loud and shrill
And I woke in California, many miles from Spancil Hill.

Download or Hear Samples of Versions of "Spancil Hill":

The Dubliners - "Spancil Hill" (1994)
The Corrs - "Spancil Hill" (2006)
Paddy Reilly - "Spancil Hill" [Live] 2010