The Foggy Dew chords

by The Wolfe Tones

Music to The Foggy Dew is traditional while the lyrics were written by Canon Charles O'Neill in 1919. It is an Irish Rebel Song depicting the events surrounding The Easter Rising of 1916.
This version by The Wolfe Tones is featured on the album 25th Anniversary.
Music: Key of D Minor in 4/4 time at 112 bpm (♩)
Song Chords: Dm, C, Gm, F

The Foggy Dew

The Relative Major Key of Dm is highlighted (F) - Transpose to any other key.

 
                        Dm      C      Dm      Gm      Dm
Intro: 4/4 | 𝄽 𝄽 𝄽 ♪♪|       |       |       -      |        |

      Dm                C                     Dm     Gm        Dm
1. As down the glen one East-er morn     To a ci-ty  fair rode I
         Dm             C                    Dm         Gm        Dm
   Their armed lines of march-ing men    In  squad-rons passed me by
      F                Gm       F           Dm         C       Dm
   No pipes did hum no bat-tle  drum    Did sound it's loud ta-too
           Dm                      C
   But the An-gel-us bell o'er the Lif-fey’s swell
        Dm         Gm     Dm
   Rang out in the Fog-gy Dew

         Dm                  C                     Dm            Gm      Dm
2. Right proud-ly high o-ver Dub-lin  Town    They flung out the flag of war
        Dm                       C                      Dm        Gm     Dm
  'Twas bet-ter to die 'neath an I-rish sky   _ Than at Suv-la or Sud-El-Bar
       F                  Gm      F               Dm       C          Dm
   And from the plains of Ro-yal  Meath    Strong men came hur-ry-ing through
         Dm                            C
   While Bri-tan-nia's Huns with their long range guns
          Dm             Gm      Dm
   Sailed in through the Fog-gy  Dew

       Dm          C        Dm      Gm       Dm
  |          |           |       -      |          |

        Dm                C                           Dm       Gm       Dm
3.'Twas Eng-land bade our Wild Geese go    That small nat-ions might be free
             Dm                    C
   But their lone-ly graves are by Suv-la's waves
          Dm            Gm          Dm
   On the fringe of the Great North Sea
      F                Gm        F          Dm          C      Dm
   Oh had they died by Pear-se's side    Or fought with Cathal Brugha
         Dm                         C
   Their names we’ll keep where the Fen-ians sleep
              Dm            Gm     Dm
   'Neath the shroud of the Fog-gy Dew

          Dm                    C                      Dm        Gm     Dm
4. Oh the bra-vest fell and the req-ui-em bell    Rang mourn-ful-ly and clear
       Dm                  C                      Dm          Gm     Dm
   For those who died that Eas-ter tide    In the spring time of the year
             F                   Gm     F                Dm        C       Dm
   While the world did gaze with deep a-maze    At those fear-less men but few
       Dm                      C
   Who bore the fight that the free-dom's light
         Dm                Gm     Dm   
   Might shine through the Fog-gy Dew 

       Dm          C        Dm      Gm       Dm
  |          |           |       -      |          |

        Dm                 C                 Dm         Gm        Dm
5. Back through the glen I rode a-gain    My heart with grief was sore
         Dm                 C                     Dm          Gm     Dm
   For I part-ed with those val-i-ant men    That I'll ne-ver see no more
       F                 Gm      F             Dm        C        Dm
   But to and fro in my dreams I go    And I'd kneel and pray for you
       Dm               C                          Dm          Gm     Dm
   For slav-er-y fled O glor-ious dead    When you fell in the Fog-gy Dew

Notes:

Level Of Ease: Easy
Song Key: Dm (1 flat - B♭) - the relative minor of F Major. This means Dm and F Major share the same key signature.
Tips for Timing - ideal for playing melody lines and off-beat chord changes.

If you have trouble with your timing, this may help. Take the smallest note in the bar, e.g., an eighth-note. Split the bar into eight sections which can be counted as | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | or | 1& 2& 3& 4& |. The second is preferred as it keeps into account the timing of 4 beats per bar.
If the smallest note is a sixteenth-note, you split the bar into 16 sections. This includes dotted eighth notes, which equates to 1 eighth-note + 1 sixteenth-note (1 quaver + 1 semi-quaver), which equals 3 sixteenth-notes (3 semi-quavers). It also includes any rests which may occur within each bar. Rather than count the bar as 1 - 16 as we did above with 1- 8, a better way to count each bar and keep the timing to lots of 4 is as follows:

| 1 2 3 4 - 2 2 3 4 - 3 2 3 4 - 4 2 3 4 |

OR

| 1 & & & - 2 & & & - 3 & & & - 4 & & & |

Remember, the count includes everything, i.e., notes, dotted notes, rests, dotted rests, etc. If it helps, write each note or rest into the bar count, so you can physically see how the bar pans out in terms of timing. Simply replace each number in the bar with a note or rest.

Another suggestion, especially with 16 count bars, is to SLOW the tempo right down and count the beats while you play till it feels comfortable, then speed up slowly until you achieve the desired tempo.

The Wolfe Tones

Band Origin: Inchicore, County Dublin, Ireland
Members: Brian Warfield, Noel Nagle, and Tommy Byrne
Music Styles: Irish Folk Music, Irish Rebel Music, Pan Celticism (a variety of political and cultural movements and organisations that promote greater contact between Celtic Nations which include Ireland, Isle of Man, Brittany, Cornwall, Scotland and Wales.)
Active Years: 1963 - present
Noel Nagle: tin whistle, uillean pipes, vocals
Brian Warfield: vocalist, banjo, harp and bodhran
Tommy Byrne: guitarist, vocalist

Songs by The Wolfe Tones on this site:

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