This Topic reissue features traditional reels, jigs, and Irish street songs from
Margaret Barry, the busking interpreter discovered in the alleys of Dublin by folklorist
Alan Lomax. Here,
Barry accompanies herself on banjo and is joined by fiddler
Michael Gorman. The rawness in
Barry's voice is a product of her untrained background, and yet it's that very quality that makes her performances of the embittered "Turfman from Ardee," the chatty joke song "The Cycling Championship of Ulster," and the standard "Wild Colonial Boy" so powerful -- the latter especially, given its affiliation with the mainstreaming of the St. Patrick's Day holiday and general cultural redundancy, is shot through with
Barry's particular genius here. Strumming jaggedly on her banjo,
Barry's high, wavering vocal always seems ready to lose the thread of the song, yet never quite does. It's a performance born at the kitchen table or in front of the hearth in the cramped corner pub.
Barry exposes the heartiness and emotion of the Irish folk tradition throughout
Her Mantle So Green (effortlessly doing so with an a cappella take on the title track) and makes the album essential for any fan of the genre unafraid of the tiny imperfections that make albums such as this stand outside the mainstream, but knee-deep in history and true meaning.