Far Away In Australia: A Song History

← Back to Browse By Song

"Far Away in Australia" is a parting song in which a young man tells his sweetheart he is sailing to Australia to make his fortune, and promises to build a home there for her.[1] Sources differ on who wrote it.[1] A 78 rpm disc by the singer Connie Foley names a writer called Lanyon.[1] The track listing of De Dannan's 1987 album Ballroom credits it to Warfield and Byrne.[2] The Discography of American Historical Recordings also lists a London recording of a song with this title by the singer Harry Fay, made around 1908, and credits it to Charles Wilmott and Herman Darewski, although it marks that composer credit as unverified.[3] The sources consulted here do not show whether Fay's song and the later Irish song are the same piece.[3]

Painting of a ship far out on a dark sea under a full moon, with moonlight on the waves and a shoreline in front.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, Ship by Moonlight, oil on canvas. A ship at sea by night, shown for its subject; it has no connection to the song.

In New York in January 1932, the fiddler and singer Frank Quinn recorded it as a duet with Nan Fitzpatrick, accompanied by violin and piano, and it was issued on Columbia (33498-F) and on Vocalion.[4] The Irish Traditional Music Archive describes Quinn, a County Longford emigrant, as one of the most prolific Irish recording artists of the 78 rpm era, and notes that as a singer he drew on traditional Irish material as well as American stage-Irish and vaudeville songs.[5] Connie Foley also recorded it for the Copley label with orchestral accompaniment, billed simply as an Irish song.[1]

On Ballroom the song is sung by Dolores Keane.[2] The album's sleeve notes say she learned it from Christy Hennessey, and observe that few Irish songs deal with emigrants bound for Australia.[2] University College Cork's EMIGRE project includes Keane's version in its list of Irish emigrant songs.[6] A mountain dulcimer arrangement under this title appears in The Doofus's Occasional Number 3, a book of 18 waltzes and old-time songs in 3/4 time for mountain dulcimer, notated by Neal Walters and Heidi Cerrigione from the group's repertoire.[7]

Our book that contains the song "Far Away In Australia"

Browse more tunes like this: Old-Time & Fiddle Tunes Dulcimer Tab

Sources

  1. Internet Archive, Great 78 Project: "Far Away in Australia" (Connie Foley, Copley 9-210-B).
  2. The Balladeers: "De Dannan, Ballroom (1987)" (sleeve notes).
  3. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix 26485. Far away in Australia / Harry Fay".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix W113311. Far away in Australia / Nan Fitzpatrick; Frank Quinn".
  5. Irish Traditional Music Archive, Irish Music in New York: "Frank Quinn, 1893-1964".
  6. University College Cork, EMIGRE: "Emigrant songs".
  7. The Doofus: "Occasional Number 3 - 18 Waltzes And Old Time Songs In 3/4 Time For Mountain Dulcimer".
  8. Image: Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, Ship by Moonlight, oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

← Back to Browse By Song