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Eddie Butcher (8 May 1900 – 8 September 1980) was an Irish traditional singer, folk-song collector and songwriter from Magilligan, County Londonderry. He had an extensive repertoire of songs that he performed in a sturdy, earthy style. In 1953, Dr. Hugh Shields began to notate and record Butcher's songs, published later in two books: Shamrock, Rose & Thistle (1981) and All the Days of his Life (2011), the latter accompanied by a set of three CDs. Starting in 1966, Butcher performed in frequent radio broadcasts from Dublin and Belfast, and recorded four albums of his songs, on one EP and three LPs.
Eddie Butcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 May 1900 Magilligan, County Londonderry, Ireland |
| Died | 8 September 1980 (aged 80) |
| Genres | Traditional Irish |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, folk-song collector |
| Labels | Ulster Folk, Leader, Free Reed, Outlet, FMSI, ITMA |
He inspired other singers such as Joe Holmes, Len Graham, and Frank Harte, as well as a younger generation of musicians, notably Andy Irvine and Paul Brady who added musical accompaniment to some of his songs.
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Eddie Butcher was born on 8 May 1900,[1]: 1 in a house that stood on the dividing line between the small townlands of Duncrun and Tamlaght,[2]: 3 and lived all his life in Magilligan, County Londonderry, in the far north-west corner of modern Ulster.[2]: 2 He was the fifth of John and Elizabeth (Clyde) Butcher's ten children[1]: 1 brought up from the 1890s to the 1920s, and whose names are, in order of seniority: Robert, Katey, Rose, Patrick, Eddie, John, Willy, Maggie, Lily, and Jimmy. All except Lily were singers and those who were old enough learned the core of their repertory from their father, who died in 1920[3]: 17 and had been a daysman,[4] or day labourer for local farmers.[2]: 3
Butcher started work by lifting potatoes at the age of 12, and later went for hiring at "the Rabble"[5] and "the Gallop",[6] the hiring fairs in Coleraine and Limavady respectively, in May and November.[2]: 3 By the time he was 20, he was a daysman himself.[2]: 3 In his late twenties, he turned from farm work to a variety of other jobs, such a working as a gardener and handyman, peat-cutting, building, road-making, thatching and working in a quarry, often cycling long distances to and from work each day.[2]: 3
Before he retired, he spent 18 years with the Ministry of Agriculture on the River Roe drainage project.[2]: 3
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Both Butcher and his wife Gracie (née Carr[3]: 19 ), whom he married in c.1933,[3]: 18 came from noted local singing families, and whenever there was a dance or another occasion in the vicinity, Butcher's father would be asked to come along to sing, and the brothers and sisters of both families were also well-known performers, locally.[2]: 3 During Butcher's childhood, their house was always one of the most popular cèilidh houses in Magilligan, with neighbours dropping in regularly for a night of craic, until the practice died out in the area.[2]: 3
Before he left home, Butcher learned the greater part of his repertoire from his father and, later, from his brothers and from Gracie's sisters.[2]: 3 He also had a gift for writing his own songs, set to traditional airs and often about local events[2]: 3 or his own experience as a farm labourer or road worker in later life.[note 1] From 1953 onwards,[note 2] he was regularly interviewed by Hugh Shields, who recorded about sixty songs from him within a couple of years, either in manuscript form or, later, through tape recording equipment,[3]: 18 and published some of these songs in the 1981 book Shamrock, Rose & Thistle.[7]
In 1966, Butcher began to sing frequently on radio from Dublin or Belfast and some of his songs were released on discs,[3]: 19 first in 1969 on the EP Adam in Paradise,[8] followed in 1976 by an LP, also titled Shamrock, Rose & Thistle. These radio broadcasts brought him some renown, and attracted the attention of local tradition bearers like Joe Holmes (1906-1978) and Len Graham (b. 1944), with whom he sang and performed. They joined him at his home for the 1975 sessions that yielded two albums of rare Ulster songs: Butcher's I Once Was a Daysman, and Chaste Muses, Bards and Sages by Holmes & Graham. Other frequent visitors to his house included Jackie Devenney (Coleraine), Brian Mullen (Derry),[3]: 36 and occasionally Andy Irvine (b. 1942) who, along with Paul Brady (b. 1947), has re-interpreted several of Butcher's songs since the 1970s, often by adding instrumental accompaniment. In 1978, Butcher released his final album: Sings the Titanic and Other Traditional Folk Songs. Two cassettes, featuring eight previously unreleased songs and entitled Shamrock, Rose & Thistle 2 and Shamrock, Rose & Thistle 3, were released posthumously in 1983 by Shields on behalf of the Folk Music Society of Ireland.[1]: 202
Some of the songs in Butcher's repertoire had also been collected from other sources by Sam Henry for inclusion in his column, Songs of the People, published weekly in Coleraine's Northern Constitution from 1923 until 1939. This treasury of nearly 700 songs fostered many recordings from the 1950s onwards, and several of these songs are therefore listed as having been recorded by Butcher, and other singers, in the book Sam Henry's Songs of the People, published in 1990.[9]
In 2011, the Irish Traditional Music Archive published the book All the Days of His Life, releasing Shields' extensive work, edited by his wife Lisa Shields and Nicholas Carolan, and telling Butcher's story in his own words. The book is accompanied by three CDs containing a further 67 songs of Butcher's previously unreleased recordings.[10]
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Eddie Butcher died on 8 September 1980.[1]: 140 An article entitled "An old friend: Eddie Butcher" was published in issue No. 18 (November 1980) of the Folk Music Society of Ireland's newsletter, Ceol Tíre, in which Shields stated:
The death of Eddie Butcher on 8 September has robbed us of the finest folk singer I have had for a friend, and of a man of great warmth and humanity. (...) The word to describe him rhymes with his name: steady. A dependable character if there was one, as steady as the 'Rock' below which he lived his life; full of obstinate ideas of his own, and loving to be praised; deeply imbued with his own culture and only really happy in its familiar surroundings. (...)
—Hugh Shields, "An old friend: Eddie Butcher"; in "Ceol Tíre" (1980).[1]: 140
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Solo recordings
- Adam in Paradise (Ulster Folk UFM.1 EP, 1969) – Release of: "The Inniskilling Dragoon", "I Long For to Get Married", "Adam in Paradise" and "The Cocks Are Crowing"
- Shamrock Rose & Thistle (Leader LED 2070 LP, 1976) – Release of 14 songs
- I Once Was a Daysman (Free Reed FRR 003 LP, 1976) – Release of 11 songs
- Sings The Titanic and Other Traditional Folk Songs (Outlet OAS3007 LP, 1978) – Release of 14 songs
- Shamrock Rose & Thistle 2 (FMSI cassette, 1983) – Release of: "Alexander", "The Faughan Side", "The Mason's Word", and the last verse of "The Banks of Kilrea"
- Shamrock Rose & Thistle 3 (FMSI cassette, 1983) – Release of: a song fragment of "The Bonny Irish Boy", "Down By the Canal", "Pat Reilly", and "The Widows Daughter"
- Adam in Paradise (ITMA 101 CD, 2005) – Re-release of the 1969 EP[11]
- All the Days of His Life : Eddie Butcher in His Own Words (ITMA 3x CDs set, 2011) – Release of 67 previously unreleased songs sung by Eddie Butcher, as a set of companion recordings to the book of the same title with the lyrics and notated music of all the songs.
Compilations
- Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry (Leader LEA 4055 LP, 1972) – Includes Butcher's "The Bride Stolen By Fairies" and "The Widow's Daughter"
- Come Let Us Buy the Licence (The Voice of the People Vol. 1) (Topic TSCD651 CD, 1998) – Includes Butcher's "David's Flowery Vale"
- Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land (The Voice of the People Vol. 4) (Topic TSCD654, CD 1998) – Includes Butcher's "Killyclare"
- Come All My Lads That Follow the Plough (The Voice of the People Vol. 5) (Topic TSCD655 CD, 1998) – Includes Butcher's "Tossing The Hay"
- Tonight I'll Make You My Bride (The Voice of the People Vol. 6) (Topic TSCD656 CD, 1998) – Includes Butcher's "Another Man's Wedding"
- This Label is Not Removable (Free Reed FRTCD 25; 3x CDs set, 2002) – Includes Butcher's "Let them come to Ireland", "Down the moor", and "The Hiring Fair"
- Revival re: Masters (Free Reed FRRRS-128 ; 18x CDs box set, 2008) – Includes 1x CD combining Butcher's I Once Was A Daysman (11 songs, plus a bonus track: ""The Mountain Streams") with Chaste Muses, Bards & Sages (9 songs) by Joe Holmes and Len Graham
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- Shields, Hugh; Shields, Lisa; Carolan, Nicholas, eds. (2011). All the Days of His Life : Eddie Butcher in His Own Words. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Traditional Music Archive. ISBN 978-0-9532704-4-6.
- Huntington, Gale; Herrmann, Lani; Moulden, John, eds. (1990). Sam Henry's Songs of the People. Athens, GA and London: The University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-1258-4.
- Shields, Hugh (1981). Shamrock, Rose & Thistle: Folk Singing in North Derry. Belfast: Blackstaff Press. ISBN 978-0-85640-166-4.
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The following two tables show the songs from Butcher's collection that were recorded and published in print.
List of recorded songs
| Song title | Singer | Album | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "A Creel of Peats" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | |
| "Adam in Paradise" | Eddie Butcher | Adam in Paradise | 1969 | [3]: 39 |
| Andy Irvine | Made in Cork | 1997 | ||
| "Alexander" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 2 | 1983 | [1]: 202 |
| "Ann Jane Thornton" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Anglers on the Roe (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Another Man's Wedding" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 41 |
| Tonight I'll Make You My Bride | 1978 | |||
| "Baltimore" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Banks of Kilrea (The)" (last verse) | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 2 | 1983 | [1]: 202 |
| "Barbara Allen" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Benevenagh Surrounded in Snow" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Bonny Irish Boy (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 3 | 1983 | |
| All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | ||
| "Boyne Water" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Bride Stolen by Fairies (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry | 1972 | |
| "Brisk Young Butcher (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Bureau (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Burning of Downhill Castle (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Castle Maid (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Cocks Are Crowing (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Adam in Paradise | 1969 | [3]: 59 |
| "Coleraine Regatta" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| "Come All You Fair Maids" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Concrete Mile (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Conversation" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | |
| "Cricket Club & Ball (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Cuckoo's Nest (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Dandy Mick McCluskey" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | ||
| "David's Flowery Vale" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 68 |
| Come Let Us Buy the Licence | 1998 | |||
| "Daysman (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 70 |
| "Don't Come Again" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 72 |
| Paul Brady | Welcome Here Kind Stranger | 1978 | [note 3] | |
| "Down By the Canal" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 3 | 1983 | [1]: 202 |
| "Down the Moor" | Eddie Butcher | This Label Is Not Removable | 2002 | |
| All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | ||
| "Drawing Buckets of Water" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Drogheda Festival (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Easy-Gaan Tom" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Eddie Talk out" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "English Harvest (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Fan (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 77 |
| "Farmer's Daughter (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 79 |
| "Faughan Side (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 2 | 1983 | [1]: 202 |
| "Flora" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| "Flower Of Corbymill" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | ||
| "Girl I Left Behind" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Glenshee" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Green Grows the Laurel & So Falls the Dew" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Green Grows the Laurel & So Does the Rue" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Green Veil (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Heather Down the Moor" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| Paul Brady | The Gathering | 1981 | ||
| "Hedges of County Down (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Hiring Day (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Hiring Fair" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| This Label Is Not Removable | 2002 | |||
| "I Am a Youth That's Inclined to Ramble" | Paul Brady | Welcome Here Kind Stranger | 1978 | [9]: 300 |
| Cara Dillon | Cara Dillon | 2001 | [9]: 300 | |
| Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | |
| "I Have a Wee Dog" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "I Long For to Get Married" | Eddie Butcher | Adam in Paradise | 1969 | [3]: 94 |
| "I'll Climb up a High High Tree" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "In Connaught I Was Born" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Inniskilling Dragoon (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Adam in Paradise | 1969 | [3]: 98 |
| "In the County Exeter" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "It Is Now For New England" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "I Wish That the War Was O'er" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Jacket So Blue (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "John Gaynor" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Johnny & Molly" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Katey of Ballinamore" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Killyclare" a.k.a. "Carrowclare" a.k.a. "Nights in Carrowclare" |
Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 56 |
| Farewell, My Own Dear Native Land | 1998 | |||
| Andy Irvine | All in Good Time | 1993 | [9]: 298 | |
| Changing Trains | 2008 | [9]: 298 | ||
| "Lanigan's Ball" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Laurie Hill" a.k.a. "Laurel Hill" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | [3]: 112 |
| "Let Them Come to Ireland" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| This Label Is Not Removable | 2002 | |||
| "Lion's Den" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| "Longfield Bank (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Lovely Bannwater" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Lowlands Low (The)" a.k.a. "Young Edmund in the Lowlands Low" |
Paul Brady | Welcome Here Kind Stranger | 1978 | [note 4] |
| Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | |
| "Magilligan Gaelic Team" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Maid of Faughanvale (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Man, Woman and Mouse" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | |
| "Marriage (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Mary Ackland" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Mason's Word (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 2 | 1983 | [1]: 202 |
| "Mountain Streams (The)" a.k.a. "Mountain Streams Where the Moorcock Crows" |
Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 125 |
| "My Aunt Biddy" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "My Aunt Jane" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Myroe Floods (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Naming of the Child (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Nancy's Whiskey" a.k.a. "The Longford Weaver" |
Andy Irvine | Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams | 1980 | [9]: 47 |
| Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | |
| "New Mallard Bar (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "New Tractor (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | [3]: 128 |
| "Oh, the Marriage, the Marriage" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Our Wedding Day" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Paisley Canal (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Parochial House (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Pat Reilly" | Andy Irvine | The Well Below the Valley | 1973 | [9]: 80 |
| Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 3 | 1983 | [1]: 202 | |
| "Pisspot (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Point Fair (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Roe Bridge (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Sally & Johnny" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Shamrock Shore (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Ship's Carpenter's Wife (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 137 |
| "Shores Of (Sweet) Benone (The)" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | [3]: 140 |
| "Skewball" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Smuggler (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "T for Tommy" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Take Hault o That Man's Hand" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Teddy Regan" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "Thousands Are Sailing" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| Andy Irvine | Parallel Lines | 1982 | ||
| Words & Music | 1983 | |||
| "Titanic (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Sings the Titanic | 1978 | |
| "To My Son in Amerikay" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] | ||
| Andy Irvine | Live from Patrick Street | 1999 | ||
| "Tossing the Hay" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 147 |
| Come All My Lads Follow the Plough | 1998 | |||
| "Until the Morning" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Very First Night (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Walling of the Men (The)" (*) | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Weary Gallows (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Wee Window" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| "Week's Work (The)" | Eddie Butcher | I Once Was a Daysman | 1976 | |
| "When the Storm Swept the Countryside" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Widow's Daughter (The)" | Eddie Butcher | Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry | 1972 | [3]: 161 |
| Shamrock, Rose and Thistle 3 | 1983 | |||
| "Wind & the Rain (The)" | Eddie Butcher | All the Days of His Life | 2011 | [12] |
| "Youghal Harbour" | Eddie Butcher | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | 1976 | [3]: 163 |
- Song title – the title of the song; an asterisk (*) indicates Eddie Butcher wrote the song[note 1] (this column is sortable)
- Singer – the name of the singer (this column is sortable)
- Album – the title of the album featuring the recorded song (this column is sortable)
- Year – the year the album was released (this column is sortable)
- Notes – a reference about the song and/or its recording (this column is not sortable).
List of printed songs
| Song title | Year | Book | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Adam in Paradise" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 39 |
| "Alexander" | 1968 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 40 |
| "Ann Jane Thornton" | 1969 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 96 |
| "Anglers on the Roe (The)" (*) | 1964 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 56 |
| "Another Man's Wedding" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 41 |
| "Baltimore" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 107 |
| "Banks of Newfoundland (The)" | 1954 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 46 |
| "Banks of the Bann (The)" | 1964 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 48 |
| "Barbara Allen" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 6 |
| "Benevenagh Surrounded in Snow" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 26 |
| "Bonny Irish Boy (The)" | 1970 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 82 |
| "Boyne Water" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 67 |
| "Brisk Young Butcher (The)" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 85 |
| "Bureau (The)" (*) | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 44 |
| "Burning of Downhill Castle (The)" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 24 |
| "Carrowclare" / a.k.a. "Killyclare" | 1954 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 56 |
| "Castle Maid (The)" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 134 |
| "Cock(s) Is/Are Crowing (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 59 |
| "Come All You Fair Maids" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 8 |
| "Concrete Mile (The)" (*) | 1961 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 42 |
| "Copper John" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 62 |
| "Cricket Club & Ball (The)" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 68 |
| "Crockery Ware (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 64 |
| "Cuckoo's Nest (The)" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 89 |
| "Dandy Mick McCluskey" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 66 |
| "David's Flowery Vale" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 68 |
| "Daysman (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 70 |
| "Don't Come Again" | 1955 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 72 |
| "Down by the Canal" | 1968 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 74 |
| "Down the Moor" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 72 |
| "Drawing Buckets of Water" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 10 |
| "Drogheda Festival (The)" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 117 |
| "Easy-Gaan Tom" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 64 |
| "English Harvest (The)" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 40 |
| "Fan (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 77 |
| "Farmer's Daughter (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 79 |
| "Faughan Side (The)" | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 80 |
| "Finvola, the Gem of the Rose" | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 81 |
| "Flower of Corbymill" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 4 |
| "Free and Easy to Jog Along" | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 82 |
| "Glenshee" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 74 |
| "Green Fields of America (The)" | 1954 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 85 |
| "Green Grows the Laurel & So Does the Rue" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 75 |
| "Green Grows the Laurel & So Falls the Dew" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 84 |
| "Green Veil (The)" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 63 |
| "Hillman (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 90 |
| "Hiring Day (The)" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 38 |
| "I Am a Youth That's Inclined to Ramble" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 76 |
| "I Have a Wee Dog" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 11 |
| "I'll Climb up a High High Tree" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 78 |
| "I Long For to Get Married" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 94 |
| "In Connaught I Was Reared" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 100 |
| "In the County Exeter" | 1964 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 98 |
| "Inniskilling Dragoon (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 98 |
| "It is Now for New England" | 1969 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 5 |
| "It Was in the Queen's County" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 102 |
| "I Wish That the War Was O'er" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 106 |
| "Jacket So Blue (The)" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 77 |
| "John Gaynor" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 3 |
| "Johnny & Molly" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 81 |
| "Journeyman Tailor (The)" | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 108 |
| "Katey of Ballinamore" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 62 |
| "Lanigan's Ball" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 126 |
| "Laurel Hill" / a.k.a. "Laurie Hill" | 1954 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 112 |
| "Longfield Bank (The)" (*) | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 46 |
| "Lowlands Low (The)" / a.k.a. "Young Edmund in..." | 1969 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 99 |
| "Magilligan Gaelic Team" (*) | 1961 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 54 |
| "Maid of Faughanvale (The)" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 116 |
| "Mary Ackland" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 102 |
| "Mason's Word (The)" | 1968 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 118 |
| "Minnie Picken" | 1968 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 120 |
| "Mountain Streams Where the Moorcock Crows (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 125 |
| "My Aunt Biddy" | 1970 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 11 |
| "My Aunt Jane" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 10 |
| "Myroe Floods (The)" (*) | 1964 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 30 |
| "Nancy's Whiskey" / a.k.a. "The Longford Weaver" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 60 |
| "New Mallard Bar (The)" (*) | 1969 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 34 |
| "New Tractor (The)" (*) | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 128 |
| "Oh, the Marriage, the Marriage" | 1961 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 88 |
| "Our Wedding Day" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 138 |
| "Parish of Dunhoe (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 130 |
| "Parochial House (The)" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 23 |
| "Pat Reilly" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 132 |
| "Pisspot (The)" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 92 |
| "Point Fair (The)" (*) | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 50 |
| "Roe Bridge (The)" (*) | 1961 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 128 |
| "Sally & Johnny" | 1961 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 79 |
| "Saturday Night is Hallowe'en Night" | 1968 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 136 |
| "Shamrock Shore (The)" | 1968 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 108 |
| "Ship's Carpenter's Wife (The)" | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 137 |
| "Shores of (Sweet) Benone (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 140 |
| "Skewball" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 58 |
| "Smuggler (The)" (*) | 1969 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 20 |
| "Take Hault o That Man's Hand" | 1977 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 52 |
| "Todd's Sweet Rural Shade" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 146 |
| "To My Son in Amerikay" | 1969 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 112 |
| "Tossing the Hay" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 147 |
| "Trader (The)" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 150 |
| "True Lovers' Discourse (The)" | 1961 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 153 |
| "Until the Morning" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 120 |
| "Very First Night (The)" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 86 |
| "Walling of the Men (The)" (*) | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 136 |
| "Weary Gallows (The)" | 1979 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 104 |
| "When a Man's in Love" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 158 |
| "When the Storm Swept the Countryside" | 1966 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 28 |
| "Widow's Daughter (The)" | 1969 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 161 |
| "Wind & The Rain (The)" | 1975 | All the Days of His Life | [1]: 90 |
| "Youghal Harbour" | 1966 | Shamrock, Rose & Thistle | [3]: 163 |
- Song title – the title of the song; an asterisk (*) indicates Eddie Butcher wrote the song[note 1] (this column is sortable)
- Year – the year the song was collected (this column is sortable)
- Book – the title of the book featuring the published song, including score notation (this column is sortable)
- Notes – a reference about the song and/or its publication (this column is not sortable).
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- Hugh Shields wrote: "Eddie was a farm labourer in his youth and a road worker in later life. Some of his own compositions reflect his experience: "The Anglers on the Roe", "The Bureau", "The Concrete Mile", "Down By The Drainside" (a single verse), "The Longfield Bank", "Magilligan Gaelic Team", "The Myroe Floods", "The New Mallard Bar", "The New Tractor", "The Point Fair", "The Roe Bridge", "The Smuggler", "The Walling of the Men". For text added to existing songs, see "Carrowclare", "Close of an Irish Day" and "The Trader"."[3]: 18
- Hugh Shields wrote: "In 1953–[195]4 regularly and in 1955 briefly I noted about sixty song texts and melodies in MS [manuscript] sung in his house mainly by himself. I recorded him there and in Downhill in 1961; at home, 1964; at home and in Dublin, 1966, 1968; at home, 1969, 1970, 1975; in Dublin, 1975; at home 1977, 1979."[3]: 18
- Paul Brady wrote: "Hugh Shields first recorded this from Eddie Butcher of Magilligan, Co. Derry, in 1966. The version I sing comes from a later recording also by Hugh Shields, of Eddie and his wife Gracie singing it together in 1975. Eddie Butcher, as a singer and a source of songs, has had an immeasurable impact on the young singers of my generation, particularly those from Ulster."[13]
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