Black and Tan Gun

"Black and Tan Gun" is a 1966 Irish traditional single written by Mervyn Allen and P. Raymond, and performed by Irish showband singer Pat Smyth and the Johnny Flynn Showband.[1][2]

"Black and Tan Gun"
Single by Pat Smyth And The Johnny Flynn Showband
B-side"Your Mother's Prayer"
ReleasedFebruary 1966
Recorded1966
GenreIrish traditional, Irish rebel, showband, country and Irish
Length3:39
LabelEmerald
Songwriter(s)Mervyn Allen and P. Raymond

Lyrics

The song describes an Irish Republican Army volunteer who fights in the Irish War of Independence in a skirmish near Bantry, being killed in combat by a member of the Black and Tans (the additional men recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1920–21, named for their uniforms, which mixed police black with military khaki). The slain volunteer asks to be buried on a hill overlooking the battlesite, underneath a cross and facing the sun.[3]

Song history

The tune was based on a country song by Jimmie Davis, "Nobody's Darling but Mine."[4]

The song was released under the Emerald label in February 1966; it was one of several Irish nationalist songs released in that year, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.[5][6] It climbed to Number One in the Irish Singles Chart in April/May of 1966, despite a Radio Éireann rule that "rebel music" could not be played on sponsored programmes.[7]

References
  1. "45cat - Pat Smyth And The Johnny Flynn Showband - Black And Tan Gun / Your Mother's Prayer - Emerald - Ireland - MD 1033".
  2. "Pat Smyth And The Johnny Flynn Showband – Black And Tan Gun (1966, yellow label, Vinyl) - Discogs". Discogs.
  3. "The Black And Tan Gun Lyrics And Chords". Irish folk songs.
  4. O'Toole, F. (2021). We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958. United Kingdom: Head of Zeus.
  5. Curran, Aidan (October 23, 2023). "Pat Smyth and The Johnny Flynn Showband – 'Black And Tan Gun'".
  6. "Johnny Flynn Showband". www.irish-showbands.com.
  7. "Eireann's ban knocking air out of 'Rising' sales". Billboard. New York City: Nielsen Business Media. 23 April 1966. p. 34.
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