Who were "The Men of the West"? Folk historiographies and the reconstruction of Democratic histories

Folklore, August, 2004 by Guy Beiner

   [H]e [McDonnell] and colonel Blake concealed themselves in a bog.
   Blake was taken prisoner, but he had the good fortune to escape and
   made his way from thence into the wild mountains of Connemara, and
   from thence embarked for Spain or France, with some other fugitives
   of his own description (Musgrave 1995, 585).

The wording of this passage is slightly confusing and has generally been interpreted to mean Blake escaped from captivity (for example see Quinn 1993, 147-8), though it actually states that Blake was captured while McDonnell escaped. In folklore traditions, the martyrdom of Blake was central to history-telling in the Ballinamuck area. However, it was not an integral part of local tradition in his home area. It appears that, around Garracloon, Blake was remembered as a celebrated local personage and news of his distant death was rejected. The distribution of Blake's folklore suggests that he was less a national hero and more a local hero, with two main constituencies, in terms of local communities that preserved his memory: south Mayo and the area surrounding Ballinamuck in south Leitrim-north Longford.

Although different traditions may exist in a community, they are not isolated in personal memories independent of each other, but interact in realms of social memory. An example of dialogue between different fragments of folklore within a community is the story of the betrayal of General Blake. According to local folk narratives from the vicinity of Ballinamuck, Blake was discovered hiding in a bog and, even though he paid money so as not to be informed upon, he was handed in to the military authorities. [8] A local tradition told of how Blake was detected by a yeoman named Leslie and his servant Hugh McDermott (Hayes 1979, 238; IFC S vol. 225, 151 and 153). Richard Hayes cited a verse from a popular ballad that acknowledged this account:

   General Blake, he lay in the bog/While Hughie and Leslie were making
   their prog;/Twenty-five guineas he gave to the two/To spare him his
   life, but all wouldn't do (Hayes 1979, 157-8).

Another song from the locality that related to the seditious act of planting a Tree of Liberty also referred to MacDermott:

   If you plant the Tree of Liberty,/Plant it on the hill of Kilglass,/
   For fear that MacDermott the traitor/Himself or his stagers would
   pass (Hayes 1979, 245; IFC S vol. 225, 151).

Apparently, in this song McDermott benefited materially from his denouncement of Blake (gaining stage coaches and retainers of his own). The understanding and appreciation of this song depends on the audience's familiarity with the story of McDermott's treachery. The correlation and cross referencing between these two songs calls attention to the communal nature of folklore as a discourse of social memory that refers to a shared reconstruction of history.

In the area of Ballinamuck many versions were told of Blake's execution, and differences were acknowledged by local storytellers. Diversity in folk historiography does not necessitate balkanisation of communal tradition and variation does not necessarily entail splintering of a narrative. Despite slight variations, the basic story remained constant and was generally accepted. Almost all accounts mention that Blake was hanged on the spokes of a cart wheel (and that loyalist landlord and militia commander Dukey Crofton of Mohill, county Leitrim was involved in the execution); later his body was reclaimed by locals, waked in the McKenna household in Kiltycreevagh (near Ballinamuck) and secretly buried in the nearby graveyard at Tubberpatrick (IFC S vol. 758, 434-5, 455-6 and 458-9; IFC S vol. 760, 133 and 477; IFC S vol. 761, 244; IFC S vol. 766, 307; IFC vol. 1858, 24-5 and 96-7; Hayes 1979, 227, 229, 230-1, 233, 237 and 238).