The Maid of Mourne Shore – Traditional Irish Love Ballad (Sam Henry Collection)

The Maid of Mourne Shore — An Irish Ballad of Love, Loss & Departure

The Maid of Mourne Shore is one of Ireland’s most tender and bittersweet traditional ballads — a song of unreturned love and exile set along the beautiful, windswept coast of County Down. Its verses combine the quiet poetry of the countryside with the ache of separation that echoes through so many Irish songs.

The story follows a young man who wanders the hills and dales by Mourne’s fair shore, remembering days of youth spent fishing and courting. When he visits his beloved to ask her heart, she gently turns him away — her promise already given to a sailor boy across the sea. Though the rejected lover warns that the sea may take her sailor, she stands firm in loyalty: “If the sea proves false to me, no other lad I’ll enjoy.”

The song then shifts from affection to farewell. The young man bids goodbye to Lord Edmund’s leafy groves and the linen greens of the Mourne countryside — scenes of peace and industry now darkened by heartbreak. As his ship prepares to sail from Warrenpoint, he looks back toward the coast he may never see again, praying for a fair wind and thinking only of the girl who would not be his.

Unlike the fiery rebel ballads of Ireland’s struggle, The Maid of Mourne Shore speaks in the language of quiet endurance. It captures the universal theme of Irish emigration — the leaving behind of beauty, youth, and love for an uncertain future. In its melody, sorrow is softened by grace; in its lyrics, love remains pure even in rejection.

To this day, the ballad endures as a haunting reminder that Ireland’s deepest songs are not only about rebellion or faith — but about the tender ache of parting by the sea.



LYRICS

[Verse 1] Ye hills and dales, and flowery vales That lie by Mourne's fair shore Ye winds that blow o’er Martin’s hills Will I hear your voice no more? Where primrose grows and violet blows, And the sporting trout there plays, With line and hook, delight I took To spend my youthful days. [Verse 2] Last night I went to see my love, To hear what she might say, Thinking she’d take some pity on me Lest I should go away. She said, “I love a sailor lad, He’s the one that I adore; And seven years I’ll wait on him, So trouble me no more.” [Verse 3] “Perhaps your sailor may be lost While crossing o’er the main, Or else has fixed his heart upon Some comely, fair young dame.” “Well if the sea proves false to me, No other lad I’ll enjoy; For ever since I saw his face I’ve loved my sailor boy.” [Verse 4] Farewell to Lord Edmund’s leafy groves, Likewise the bleaching green, Where linen webs lie clean and white, And pure flows the crystal stream. Where many’s the happy day I spent, But now, alas, they’re o’er— Since the lass I love has banished me Far, far from Mourne shore. [Verse 5] Our ship now lies off Warren’s Point, All ready to set sail, May Heaven guard and safely guide her With a sweet and pleasant gale. Had I ten thousand pounds in gold, Or had I ten times more, I’d freely share with the girl I love The maid of Mourne shore.
Location: Ireland

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