The Mountains of Pomeroy, a latter-day anthem for Tyrone, was penned by Dr George Sigerson in the 1860s, borrowing from an existing air and adapting from previous lyrics. The rustic ballad of‘Reynardine’ or ‘The Mountains High’, featuring a fox-like rake near ‘Plimroy’ [or ‘Pimroy’], was sung on both sides of the Atlantic by the 1830s.
Sigerson’s ‘gallant Renardine’ is not a seductive were-fox but ‘an outlawed man’ hiding from all but his beloved bride, around Pomeroy, the highest village of the author’s native Tyrone. Whether he had in mind the rugged hills around Pomeroy or the majestic Sperrin Mountains several miles away, we’ll never know.
This mountainous lovesong has become popular since the 1950s. Today, its superbly crafted melody is often heard as a march and hornpipe, played in sessions throughout the island.
