Garryowen
Encyclopedia
Garryowen, also known as Garyowen, Garry Owen and Gary Owens, is an Irish
tune for a quickstep
dance.
. It obtained immediate popularity in the British Army
through the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers.
A very early reference to the tune appears in The Life of the Duke of Wellington
by Jocquim Hayward Stocqueler
, published in 1853. He describes the defence of the town of Tarifa
in late December 1811, during the Peninsular War
. General H. Gough, later Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
, commanding officer of the 87th Regiment (at that time known as the Royal Irish Fusiliers
), after repulsing an attack by French Grenadiers "… was not, however, merely satisfied with resistance. When the enemy, scared, ran from the walls, he drew his sword, made the band strike up 'Garry Owen', and followed the fugitives for two or three hundred yards."
Garryowen was also a favourite in the Crimean War
. The tune has also been associated with a number of British military units, and is the authorised regimental march of The Irish Regiment of Canada
. It was the regimental march of the Liverpool Irish
, British Army. It is the regimental march of the London Irish Rifles (now part of The London Regiment (TA)). It was also the regimental march of the 50th (The Queen's Own) Foot (later The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment) until 1869.
Garryowen became the marching tune for the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York Militia, (the famed "Fighting 69th" ) in the mid-19th century. The "Fighting 69th" adopted Garryowen before the Civil War and recently brought it back to combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom
It later became the marching tune for the American 7th Cavalry Regiment during the late 19th century. The tune was a favorite of General George Armstrong Custer
and became the official air of the regiment in 1867. According to legend it was the last tune played before the Battle of the Little Bighorn
.
The name of the tune has become a part of the regiment, the words Garry Owen are part of the regimental crest.
There is a Camp Garry Owen, north of Seoul, Korea, which houses part of the 4th Squadron of the regiment. There is also a currently operating Forward Operating Base, FOB Garryowen, within the Maysan province of Iraq. FOB Garryowen was established in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 8-10 in June 2008 by 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.
The 7th Cavalry became a part of the 1st Cavalry Division in 1921, and "Garryowen" became the official tune of the division in 1981.
The word garryowen is derived from Irish
, the proper name Eóghan ("born of the yew tree") and the word for garden garrai – thus "Eóghan's Garden". The term refers to an area of the town of Limerick, Ireland.
The tune became the name for bases established by the Cavalry in current conflicts. The most recent being Combat Operating Base, (COB), Garry Owen in the Maysan Province of Iraq. The base is near the city of Al Amarra and was established by the 2/7 CAV.
Garry Owen most recently was also the Regimental Quick March of "The Ulster Defence Regiment" CGS (UDR). When the UDR merged with "The Royal Irish Rangers" in 1992 to become "The Royal Irish Regiment" Garry Owen was droped as the Regimental Quick march and was replaced with Killaloe, both these tune are worthy of being a Regimental Quick march.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
tune for a quickstep
Quickstep
The quickstep is a light-hearted member of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal and informal events...
dance.
History
It emerged in the late 18th century, when it was a drinking song of rich young roisters in LimerickLimerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
. It obtained immediate popularity in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
through the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers.
A very early reference to the tune appears in The Life of the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
by Jocquim Hayward Stocqueler
Jocquim Hayward Stocqueler
J. H. Stocqueler was a journalist, government employee, entrepreneur, and inventor in England, India, and the United States of America.-Biography:Stocqueler traveled extensively during his life...
, published in 1853. He describes the defence of the town of Tarifa
Tarifa
Tarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco. The municipality includes Punta de Tarifa, the southernmost point in continental Europe. There are five...
in late December 1811, during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. General H. Gough, later Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Field Marshal Sir Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, KP, GCSI, KCB, PC , was an Irish British Army officer. He was said to have commanded in more general actions than any other British officer of the 19th century except the Duke of Wellington.- Early career :Born at Woodstown House, Co...
, commanding officer of the 87th Regiment (at that time known as the Royal Irish Fusiliers
Royal Irish Fusiliers
The Royal Irish Fusiliers was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th Regiment of Foot and the 89th Regiment of Foot in 1881. The regiment's first title in 1881 was Princess Victoria's , changed in 1920 to The Royal Irish Fusiliers...
), after repulsing an attack by French Grenadiers "… was not, however, merely satisfied with resistance. When the enemy, scared, ran from the walls, he drew his sword, made the band strike up 'Garry Owen', and followed the fugitives for two or three hundred yards."
Garryowen was also a favourite in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. The tune has also been associated with a number of British military units, and is the authorised regimental march of The Irish Regiment of Canada
The Irish Regiment of Canada
2nd Battalion, The Irish Regiment of Canada is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces based in Sudbury, Ontario. The 1st Battalion was reduced to nil strength and placed on the Supplemental Order of Battle on 31 December 1964....
. It was the regimental march of the Liverpool Irish
Liverpool Irish
The Liverpool Irish is a unit of the British Territorial Army, raised in 1860 as a volunteer corps of infantry. Conversion to an anti-aircraft regiment occurred in 1947, but the regimental status of the Liverpool Irish ceased in 1955 upon reduction to a battery...
, British Army. It is the regimental march of the London Irish Rifles (now part of The London Regiment (TA)). It was also the regimental march of the 50th (The Queen's Own) Foot (later The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment) until 1869.
Garryowen became the marching tune for the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York Militia, (the famed "Fighting 69th" ) in the mid-19th century. The "Fighting 69th" adopted Garryowen before the Civil War and recently brought it back to combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom
It later became the marching tune for the American 7th Cavalry Regiment during the late 19th century. The tune was a favorite of General George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
and became the official air of the regiment in 1867. According to legend it was the last tune played before the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
.
The name of the tune has become a part of the regiment, the words Garry Owen are part of the regimental crest.
There is a Camp Garry Owen, north of Seoul, Korea, which houses part of the 4th Squadron of the regiment. There is also a currently operating Forward Operating Base, FOB Garryowen, within the Maysan province of Iraq. FOB Garryowen was established in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 8-10 in June 2008 by 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.
The 7th Cavalry became a part of the 1st Cavalry Division in 1921, and "Garryowen" became the official tune of the division in 1981.
The word garryowen is derived from Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, the proper name Eóghan ("born of the yew tree") and the word for garden garrai – thus "Eóghan's Garden". The term refers to an area of the town of Limerick, Ireland.
The tune became the name for bases established by the Cavalry in current conflicts. The most recent being Combat Operating Base, (COB), Garry Owen in the Maysan Province of Iraq. The base is near the city of Al Amarra and was established by the 2/7 CAV.
Garry Owen most recently was also the Regimental Quick March of "The Ulster Defence Regiment" CGS (UDR). When the UDR merged with "The Royal Irish Rangers" in 1992 to become "The Royal Irish Regiment" Garry Owen was droped as the Regimental Quick march and was replaced with Killaloe, both these tune are worthy of being a Regimental Quick march.
In popular culture
- The song is the theme of the 1940 movie The Fighting 69th by Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
1940 starring James CagneyJames CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, Pat O'BrienPat O'Brien (actor)Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
and Alan HaleAlan Hale, Sr.Alan Hale, Sr. was an American movie actor and director, most widely remembered for his many supporting character roles, in particular as frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn. His wife of over thirty years was Gretchen Hartman , a child actress and silent film player and mother of their three children...
which chronicles the World War I exploits of the 69th Infantry RegimentU.S. 69th Infantry RegimentThe 69th Infantry Regiment is a military unit from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the Fighting Sixty-Ninth, a name said to have been given to it by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War...
, New York National Guard, (the famed "Fighting 69th" ) and appears numerous times throughout it. - They Died with their Boots OnThey Died with Their Boots OnThey Died with Their Boots On is a 1941 western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite being rife with historical inaccuracies, the film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the last of eight Flynn–de Havilland collaborations.Like...
(Errol FlynnErrol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
1941-lyrics actually sung). - Fort ApacheFort Apache (film)Fort Apache is a 1948 Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande , both also starring Wayne...
and She Wore a Yellow RibbonShe Wore a Yellow RibbonShe Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The film was the second of Ford's trilogy of films focusing on the US Cavalry ; the other two films were Fort Apache and Rio Grande...
, sung by the cavalry troopers and also used as part of the score. - The Long Gray LineThe Long Gray LineThe Long Gray Line is a 1955 American drama film directed by John Ford based on the life of Marty Maher. Tyrone Power stars as the scrappy Irish immigrant whose 50-year career at West Point took him from dishwasher to non-commissioned officer and athletic instructor.Maureen O'Hara, one of Ford's...
(Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
1955-band company playing on the parade grounds at West Point and integrated throughout the score as a love theme between the main character Marty MaherMartin MaherMartin "Marty" Maher, Jr. was an Irish immigrant from Ballycrine, County Tipperary, Ireland, who joined the United States Army in 1898 and rose to the rank of Master Sergeant...
and his wife-to-be Mary O'Donnell). - Little Big ManLittle Big ManLittle Big Man is a 1970 American Western film directed by Arthur Penn and based on the 1964 comic novel by Thomas Berger. It is a picaresque comedy about a Caucasian boy raised by the Cheyenne nation during the 19th century...
(Dustin HoffmanDustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
1970-fife instrumental played several times). - Son of the Morning StarSon of the Morning StarSon of the Morning Star is a 1984 non-fiction book on the subject of George Armstrong Custer, with the subtitle 'Custer and the Little Bighorn'. A 1991 television film was based on the book. Both the book and the film chronicle the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the personalities involved, and the...
(Gary ColeGary ColeGary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
1991 - Whistled by Custer and his regiment on the march and played by a practicing band). - Played in Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
at an American Nativist society celebration - perhaps, ironically, given the song's immigrant heritage. - Rough RidersRough RidersThe Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
(Film 1997) Garryowen is sung by Elan Oberon, the wife of Director John MiliusJohn MiliusJohn Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960s, but was rejected...
, accompanied by a military band, to the Rough Riders as they depart San Antonio, Texas by rail on their way to Tampa Bay, Florida. - The song is featured in the movie The Last SamuraiThe Last SamuraiThe Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and director Vincent Ward, who had previously filmed the movie in 1990, starring...
during the Winchester exhibition. - Used by the forces of SkyeSkyeSkye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
in the MechwarriorMechWarriorMechWarrior is the title of a series of computer and video games set in the fictional universe of BattleTech-Games:In these games, players take control of a single BattleMech and combat other BattleMechs, tanks, infantry, and more, from within the cockpit of their machine. A third-person alternate...
novel, Flight of the Falcon by Victor Milan. It is also sung, with slightly different lyrics. - In Winston GroomWinston GroomWinston F. Groom, Jr. is an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994.- Life :...
's novel Better Times Than These the song is mentioned several times. - In 1993, the popular Civil War Music Company, The 97th Regimental String Band, recorded 'Garryowen' on their 'Marching Along' (Volume 6), a CD of Marching tunes.
External links
- MIDI of the song on Mudcat CaféMudcat CafeThe Mudcat Café is an online discussion group and song and tune database, which also includes many other features relating to folk music.-History:...
- Traditional lyrics of "Garryowen" on Mudcat Café
- 7th Cavalry specific version of "Gary Owen" on Mudcat Café