"Dh’fhalbh Mo Nighean Chruinn Donn"

The Scots-Irish have a long tradition of sorrow in their music, of looking back and reflecting on what they had lost in their moves. “Dh’fhalbh Mo Nighean Chruinn Donn,” originally sung in Gaelic, is about someone lost in the move to Ulster. The singer can’t move past the pain of losing her, despite knowing that she is in a better place now. Later Appalachian ballads kept the sorrowful tone of loss and struggle so inherent to earlier Scots-Irish music because “they resonated with the misfortunes and migrations of the centuries, shadows of life from an amalgamation of experiences: repressive rulers, deprivations, families and loves left or lost, perils of oceanic migration, struggles of strangers in a strange land, the fear of foreboding landscapes.” The music was an oral history, remembering the struggles endured and everything lost.

The Scots-Irish created a strong community in Appalachia, modelling it after the clans and clachans of the old country. They evolved with their circumstances, adopting the traditions of other cultural groups they encountered. Music was a tool of resilience. It reminded them of home while allowing them to explore their new world. It helped them process their grief, sorrow, and nostalgia while “provid[ing] the social fabric, creating a sense of community amid isolation and reinforcing identity.”