DESCRIPTION:
Celtic Mayhem perform the traditional raftsman ballad "Jack Haggerty" at the Florida Renaissance Festival, March 1, 2009, Deerfield Beach, Florida.

With Ty Billings on vocals & guitar, Martyn Wylde on vocals & bass, and Jack Stamates on fiddle.

Note - this is the same video we had previously posted. YT admits there are still some problems uploading HD format and in this case the audio was badly out of sync when YT finished processing. YT can only recommend re-posting the original file, which is what we did here. We hope audio synchronization is much better with this new upload. We apologize that any previous comments or ratings from the original post were lost when this video was re-uploaded to YT.

Apologies also for the wind noise through parts of this, there were extensive periodic gusts blowing on the day this was filmed, impacting sound quality.

Best viewed in High Definition if possible (the HD button), though YouTube admits that the 720p format is still in beta and may be jerky and out of sync on a slow connection.

This American raftsman's shanty about unrequited love is supposedly based on a true story, and is attributed to the Irish-American raftsman Dan McGinnis, from the Flat River area around Greenville, circa 1872. McGinnis used the name of his friend Jack Haggerty in the song in place of himself, supposedly so Anne Tucker wouldn't know he wrote it. The Tucker family is said to have loathed this song at first but eventually came to accept and even like it. In later years, Anne Tucker is said to have sung this song herself for visiting Canadian friends. Neither Jack Haggerty nor Dan McGinnis ever got the girl. Alas...

This song is also variously known as "The Sad Ballad of Jack Haggerty" and as "Flat River Girl". While American in origin, this song is heavily influenced by traditional Irish folk ballads.