Granuaile
Copyright 1995 Mary Bertke
A cowering woman stood in the queen's hall,
to plead for her kinfolk, she wore a grey shawl.
Queen Elizabeth stared at the old Granuaile,
and asked why to England she'd dared to sail.
For the waves around Connaught heave till the boat knocks
and they smash men and vessels to death on the rocks.
The wave and wind of warfare are what have made me,
and I'm cast adrift on them to drown in the sea.
"I'm a poor widow woman, my life on the rocks.
I've lived through the gale of disaster and shocks.
Just spare my kin's lives and keep Bingham from me –
I'll serve you well, queen, if you answer my plea.
"For forty long years I've been tested and tried,
my fortunes once rose, now they fall with the tide.
I ask widow's portion, by England's rules,
my ships in your service will shine like your jewels."
For the waves around Connaught heave till the boat knocks
and they smash men and vessels to death on the rocks.
The wave and wind of warfare are what have made me,
and I'm cast adrift on them to drown in the sea.
"No poor widow woman," Elizabeth cried,
"would sail up to Greenwich on dangerous tide.
Marauder, and pirate, and captain you be.
When I view your petition that's all I perceive.
"For forty long years you have roamed the salt sea,
stolen gold from my captains, and through them, from me.
A queen like myself, you are called as you sail –
I'll give all you ask, and more – bold Granuaile."
For the waves around Connaught heave till the boat knocks
and they smash men and vessels to death on the rocks.
The wave and wind of warfare are what have made me . . .
I sail on the ocean, I live for the sea.
Granuaile, or Grania O'Maille, or Grace O'Malley, was born in the Clew Bay region of Co. Mayo, Ireland, around 1630. She and Queen Elizabeth both were born and died within a few years of each other. Because of the time frame, these two women of power are often held up as both parallels and foils for each other. While Elizabeth was a woman who stepped into a role designed by and for a man, and filled it well, Grania developed her own power base and used a female's ability to enter into different clans by marriage to her
advantage.
Sir Richard Bingham seems to have despised Grania with a passion, treating her and her kin harshly at every turn. When Grania sailed to England in her 60's to personally petition the queen, Bingham wrote a letter urging the queen to deny her petition, citing Grania as "the nurse of all rebellions in this province for forty years."
While we know the meeting between Elizabeth and Grania took place because of a letter from Elizabeth to Bingham ordering him to leave her alone (which he didn't, and Grania went back to pirating English ships,) there is no actual record of the meeting. In traditional songs, Grania is usually portrayed as striding haughtily into Elizabeth's throne room, calling herself a queen, and making demands. According to the Articles of Interrogation that Grania answered and returned to Elizabeth shortly before sailing to make a personal appeal, this was not the tact she took. This song was written to describe what I think the meeting between those powerful women may have been like. Elizabeth saw someone who commanded men with equal facility as herself, but who had created her own power base. She approved heartily.
By the way, I did my undergrad thesis on Granuaile and her treatment in songs and literature. ;-)