The Seas are Deep
I wish I was in Carrickfergus,
Only for nights in Ballygrant
I would swim over the deepest ocean,
For my love to find[1]
It is possible to use an online map to find Carrickfergus, to view a still satellite photograph of the town and zoom in on the main road, the church, the graveyard, the school, and the houses that dribble out along the road towards the sea. You can access co-ordinates and direction from the nearest main town. However none of this information will help you to understand the Carrickfergus of this traditional Irish folk song. I have never been to Carrickfergus nor I suspect have many of the people who over the years have interpreted this song. And yet it is sung with feeling, feeling that suggests the singer has known Carrickfergus and longs to be there. Equally those who listen to the song are not familiar with Carrigfergus, but the reception of the song suggests that knowledge of the topography of this town in the north east of Ireland is not necessary to appreciate the sentiment expressed.
But the sea is wide and I cannot cross over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I could meet a handsome boatsman
To ferry me over, to my love and die.
For the Carrickfergus here is not a geographical place located by reference to lines of longitude and latitude, despite the song beginning with directions such as the distance to the nearest town and the intervening sea. It is soon apparent that we are not looking for a specific location but a place that belongs to the past, the realm of memory and imagination. The unfathomable sea is not the cold stretch of water that separates the singer from the place of his longing but the chasm of time.
[1] Unknown. I wish I was in Carrickfergus. http://www.risa.co.uk/sla/song.php?songid=26529 (accessed 15/1/2012)
My favourite version is sung by Sean o Shea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXwkjFKhmxM (accessed 6/06/2012)
