There’s a valley in Spain called Jarama,
it’s a place that we know too well
for’tis there that we wasted our manhood.
And most of our old age as well.
We are proud of the Lincoln Battalion
and the fight that it gave for Madrid.
There we fought like true sons of the people
as a part of the fifteenth brigade.
Now we´ve parted from that valley of sorrow
but in memory we never’ll forget,
so before we conclude this reunion
Let’s stand for our glorious dead.
There’s a valley in Spain called Jarama,
it’s a place that we know too well
for’tis there that we wasted our manhood.
And most of our old age as well.
Translation to Spanish
Hay un valle
en España llamado Jarama,
es un lugar
que conocemos muy bien
pues allí
perdimos nuestra juventud.
Y parte de
nuestra vejez también.
Estamos orgullosos
del Batallón Lincoln
y de cómo
luchó por Madrid.
Allí luchamos
como verdaderos hijos del pueblo,
como parte de
la XV Brigada.
Ahora estamos
lejos de aquél valle de la tristeza,
pero en
nuestra memoria jamás lo olvidaremos,
así que antes
de que concluya esta reunión,
pongámonos de
pie por nuestros gloriosos muertos.
Hay un valle
en España llamado Jarama,
es un lugar
que conocemos muy bien
pues allí
perdimos nuestra juventud.
Y parte de
nuestra vejez también.
Jarama Valley, version by Charles
Donelly (1914
Kyllybrackey- Valle del Jarama 1937).
This poem was
an adaptation of the American folk song called Red River Valley. In those days it was common to listen this chant intoned
with different languages, depending on the ethnic origin of the battalion, e.g.
there are versions in German, Russian, or even sung in other regional British
accents. What makes really interesting and dramatic this version is the fact
that the Irish brigadier Donnelly died during the Campaing of Jarama, not so far
from the days he wrote this marching ballad. I extracted the lyrics from the
book Valle del Jarama, by Enrique
Barco Teruel, which translation I did not find it into English yet. The book
describes the conscription of a French journalist to the International Brigades,
those volunteers who supported the Spanish Republican Government against the
Nationalist or Rebel Faction. I really recommend this novel, although is
fiction, it describes quite well why the Republican cause was doomed to
failure. The main reason, and that is what Barco Teruel emphasizes
extraordinarily, is that there had not a hierarchical chain of command. The
Republican Forces were really a coalition, which included communist, anarchist,
republicans and some other regional nationalist. Most of them were more
interested to fight by their own in instead to fight in a unique front. The great
witness of Republican mixing pot was the purge committed in Barcelona by the
communist over the anarchist; during the first days of May of 1937; known
popularly as the Acts of May[1].
In the Rebel
Faction, all the dissidence was officially eradicated on April 19th by
General Francisco Franco, with the enactment of the Unification Decree[2].
I did not find the Donnelly adaption of the song, but
here I found one sung by Woodie Guthrie and recorded in 1944; The Asch
recordings vol.1. The lyrics were written by himself.
