“A Parting Glass” Is Offered to Those Who Stay Behind

I wrote this post originally about my choir’s Celtic concert in March 2016

There’s so much more that could be said about the music in our concert, but alas, we have reached concert week. So let’s take a look at our closing song, “The Parting Glass.” I was pleased to find out that it meant pretty much what I thought, which was a farewell song after an evening of drinking. The words will actually make more sense to you if you imagine the speaker and his listeners all being a little tipsy.

There are many versions of the song, with varying words and melodies. I’ve tried to distill the various ideas down into something digestible, always keeping in mind that it’s a folk song and its origins are therefore murky. The initial inspiration may have come from a farewell letter written by Scotsman Thomas Armstrong on the eve of his execution in 1605 for border raiding. Here’s what he wrote:

This night is my departing night, For here nae langer must I stay;
There’s neither friend nor foe o’ mine, But wishes me away.
What I have done thro’ lack of wit, I never, never, can recall;
I hope ye’re a’ my friends as yet; Goodnight and joy be with you all!

Some sources say that this is what he “allegedly” wrote. Wikipedia quotes the passage as evidence that the song was already known in 1605. But isn’t it just as likely that Armstrong indulged his poetic bent here and tried to make his farewell as eloquent as possible? The line “There’s neither friend nor foe of mine,/But wishes me away” could be stated two ways: “I don’t have a friend or enemy who wouldn’t wish for me to escape this situation” or “I don’t have a friend or enemy who wants me dead.” Here at the end of his life he takes the blame for his misdeeds, done because he lacked “wit,” or intelligence. He can never “recall,” or take back, what he’s done. But he wishes the best to all those who are still his friends.

It seems to me that this letter was the inspiration for the song, which was the most popular closing piece for public or family occasions in Ireland and Scotland until the advent of “Auld Lang Syne” in 1788 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. (We in America always think of the Burns song in connection with New Year’s Eve, but it’s actually an all-purpose farewell song. And in case you’re wondering, which maybe you’re not, the title means “times long past,” except that it’s really “old long time.”) “The Parting Glass” remained popular in Ireland, however.

I think our lyrics make the most sense if we imagine them being sung by someone who’s leaving his friends and family to go away for good. There’s a vein of self-deprecating humor running through the words that’s easy to miss, so I’m going to give a paraphrased version here, with the actual lyrics that we sang included below the video:

I’ve spent my money carousing with my friends,
And any harm I’ve done has been only to myself.
If I’ve made stupid mistakes, well, I can’t remember them, and
My friends and sweethearts would like for me to stay.

But since it has happened that I should get up and go away,
And that all of you will remain here.
Let’s all have one more drink, raising our glasses,
And I’ll leave quietly,
While we bid each other goodnight and all the best.

Picture a warm firelit pub, late at night, with a group of people reluctant to go home because they know that this is the time of farewell for the person who’s leaving. He’s the last one standing, gives his speech and raises his final glass. Perhaps he decides not to disturb those who’ve put their heads down on the tables and fallen asleep, so he softly calls out his last goodnight and slips out into the dark.

Here’s a great, great performance by a group called the “Face Vocal Band”–their voices are magical, and they’re singing in a pub. What could be better?