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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 7 2009, 11:02am
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Old song in Star Trek TNG, episode #I86, 'The Wounded'
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Hello, fellow Tolkien geeks who are also Star Trek geeks!...
I'm trying to find the title and origin of a little song, I would say medieval in style, most probably quite well-known in the whole Anglo-saxon world (but I am French!) which is sung in one episode of Star Trek, and which I like very much. Is it possible that this tune is played sometimes by Scottish bagpipes too, as I seem to remember having heard it being played?...
In Star Trek TNG episode #186, 'The Wounded', long after a Treaty has been signed by the Federation with the Cardassians, one captain is discovered to be still discretely chasing and damaging/eliminating as many Cardassian vessels as he can, on his own solitary vessel, the 'Rutledge'.
Jean-Luc Picard and the 'Enterprise' are missioned to put an end to this misbehaviour, which is endangering very much the already precarious peace with the Cardassians.
But the captain of the small ship, Capt. Benjamin Maxwell, traumatized by some of the war horrors before the peace, is psychologically locked up in his terrible memories of that time, and unable to let go of his deep need for revenge.
When even Jean-Luc, in spite of his initial compassion and goodwill for the other captain, fails to convince him to stop his mad behaviour, the only option left for safeguarding the peace seems to shoot down the unfortunate rogue captain and his ship. Warnings to that effect only harden the stand and proud determination of the captain, a brave and honorable man who before had been celebrated as a war hero; is he now to be eliminated shamefully because his new heroic deeds are no longer politically acceptable?!?...
But at this point Miles O'Brien, the 'Enterprise' crew member who is the main person operating the Transporter Rooms comes forward, and asks permission to be beamed onto the smaller vessel, to try to talk the captain away from his obsessive fixation on revenge: O'Brien happens to be a previous friend of the Captain Maxwell, having served under him years before, precisely during the war with the Cardassians.
Earlier in the episode we have seen O'Brien react himself with some hostility and mistrust to the few Cardassians who are at the time on board the 'Enterprise', precisely to find a solution to the ongoing attacks by the rogue captain.
During his quiet lunch time with Keiko, the Japanese crew member he has wedded recently, O'Brien reflects sadly upon his own wrong reactions, and reminisces about the old days, the time he spent on that other vessel; he remembers particularly one old, traditional song that he and that other captain happened both to love, and that they used to sing together; and he softly starts singing some of that song to his wife, with visible emotion re-awakened in him by that almost forgotten song.
When later on he is beamed aboard the 'Rutledge', the captain there for the first time is pulled out of his present obsession by the joy of recognizing this old friend; spontaneously they start talking, not on the present tense situation, but on memories of their shared past; and soon that song they both loved comes to their lips again, and together they sing it slowly, with all their heart:
Chief Miles O'Brien, Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: [singing] The minstrel boy to the war is gone / In the ranks of death you will find him. His father's sword he hath girded on / And his wild harp slung behind him. Land of song, said the warrior bard / Tho' all the world betrays thee. One sword at least thy rights shall guard /
[only O'Brien finishes song]
Chief Miles O'Brien, Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: One faithful harp shall praise thee.
And the magic of that old cherished song accomplishes what diplomacy and arguments and threats had been unable to achieve: its soft sadness, together with the deep togetherness between those two men, reopens the hardened heart and mind of the traumatized captain, and healing becomes possible at last.
Could anyone tell me more about that beautiful, very moving little song?
Thanking all of you in advance...
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
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Morthoron
Hithlum
Nov 7 2009, 12:08pm
Post #2 of 15
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'The Minstrel Boy' is an old Irish tune...
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Written by the poet Thomas Moore in remembrance of those who died in the 1798 Irish Rebellion:
The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him; "
Land of Song!" cried the warrior bard,
"Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's chain
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav'ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!"
There are many versions of the song over the years, but I like The Pogues doing it (which is unfortunately not on you youtube) and Joe Strummer of the Clash does a fine version....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBbVQA-p2wU
"Of course, America had often been discovered before Columbus; but it had always been hushed up." --Oscar Wilde
(This post was edited by Morthoron on Nov 7 2009, 12:10pm)
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 7 2009, 12:36pm
Post #3 of 15
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Thank you so much! With that title
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I can google up the net and find out probably a lot, as it seems to be a very well-known song indeed (you mention youtube, I'll check that too...)
You are giving me a good start, great!!! 
An old Irish song... of course, for the Irish character O'Brien! And Maxwell, is that a typical Irish name as well, or he just happens to know that song because everybody knows it?!
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
(This post was edited by mae govannen on Nov 7 2009, 12:38pm)
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Morthoron
Hithlum
Nov 7 2009, 11:12pm
Post #4 of 15
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Maxwell would be Scots or English, particularly with a first name Benjamin. So I guess, like most people, he wishes he were Irish. 
"Of course, America had often been discovered before Columbus; but it had always been hushed up." --Oscar Wilde
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 8 2009, 12:39am
Post #5 of 15
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Hmmm... Could that be possibly a hint
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that you are Irish yourself?!...  
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Elvenhome
Nov 8 2009, 3:46am
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I've loved that song since I was a girl.
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It was in the book I had for piano lessons :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 8 2009, 10:49am
Post #7 of 15
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Yes, I can imagine it on the piano too...
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Did you learn the lyrics and sing the song as well, Aunt Dora?
And did you see the Star Trek TNG that I described, which had that song in it twice actually?
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Elvenhome
Nov 8 2009, 2:51pm
Post #8 of 15
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Yes, the lyrics were in the piano book
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and no, I didn't see the Star Trek episode. Somehow, even though my siblings, aunt and kids were all Trekkies, it never rubbed off on me. But that episode does sound moving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Lily Fairbairn
Gondolin
Nov 8 2009, 3:24pm
Post #9 of 15
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...is a name from the Scottish borders, but then, Ireland and Scotland share a musical heritage.
While I'm sure I've seen every episode of ST:TNG, I don't remember that one. Very odd, because I know "The Minstrel Boy" from my childhood and just last week heard it on the muzak system of an 18th century tavern in Virginia.
* * * * * * *
Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?
A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 9 2009, 3:22am
Post #11 of 15
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It is quite a sad story, though,
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that those lyrics tell, and some of the ways of singing that song, which I have just listened to on Youtube, do bring out beautifully this very poetic and moving quality; I just wonder then how that very same song has ended up being also, it seems, adopted generally by the army, and is also sung in that context, but on the faster, more energetic rhythm of a military parade or march - something which to me is a bit of a betrayal of what the lyrics are conveying ? Or am I wrong in my interpretation???
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 9 2009, 4:24am
Post #12 of 15
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I cannot tell about the first, original series,
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but in the TNG series there is a great many incredibly thoughtful and deep episodes.
They present in life situations to the great team of main crew-members on the 'Enterprise', episode after episode, a number of universal problems like this one, that are seen and dealt with in a much wiser and more compassionate manner than would still be the case in most of our societies. In the end often those difficult situations do get solved thanks precisely to that new approach, which exemplifies the inner evolution having happened in that future century (the 24th) among at least the humans from Terra/the Earth and some of the various races of other beings inhabiting our galaxy, and beyond.
Having been living in Auroville since 1972, I have missed completely that whole 'Star Trek' period at the time when it happened in the West, but just two years ago, in Auroville itself, I got the opportunity to see all the episodes of TNG, and I fell totally in love with the whole thing!!!
There are also some extremely thought-provoking situations involving alternative realities, time anomalies and other consciousness-stretching problems, in which sometimes the attitude required is nothing less than a spiritual one, activating and putting to use latent capacities and powers that most human beings don't even know yet they have.
Except for a few episodes here and there that aren't at the same level - but even among those, several are full of humour and delightfully funny - I found all this to be quite uplifting and inspiring, and I am now viewing a second time those TNG ones, mostly with great pleasure!...
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 9 2009, 4:30am
Post #13 of 15
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exactly the same effect on me, and since then, having seen in the meantime that episode a second time, I have been trying to find out what that song was... and finally I thought of asking, of course, this great pool of knowledge that the TORnsibs are!...
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
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mae govannen
Dor-Lomin
Nov 9 2009, 4:40am
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Thank you for this precision, Lily! As for
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this particular episode, if you don't remember seeing it, I would recommend that you do see it if you can; the storyline is more elaborate, complex and subtle that the mere outline I have given of it in my post, but the whole thing is extremely well put together and well acted, and the result, as I have seen it repeatedly in myself, is a lingering uplifted mood in the viewer!...
'Is everything sad going to come untrue?'
(Sam, 'The Field of Cormallen', in 'The Return of the King'.)
(This post was edited by mae govannen on Nov 9 2009, 4:41am)
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