The Black Velvet Band is one of Ireland’s most dramatic and popular folks songs. There are several versions to be found all across the world from Ireland to America and on to Australia. They vary in detail but they all tell the same basic story.
A young man goes walking through the town when he chances upon a beautiful woman whose hair is tied up with a black velvet band. He takes a stroll with her, little suspecting the trouble she is going to cause him.
A gold watch she took from his pocket
As they walk along, they meet a gentleman passing by. The young man immediately senses that the woman plans some mischief by “the look in her roguish black eye”. His fears prove well grounded because the woman steals the gentleman’s gold watch and puts it into the young man’s hand.
Despite the young man’s misgivings, the song makes no reference to him trying to stop her or trying to distance himself from her. Instead he seems to accept his fate. The only resistance he can offer is to wish her bad luck. Perhaps he is too smitten with her beauty to do more.
Betrayed by the Black Velvet Band
The young man is hauled before the courts the next morning where the judge decides that the case against him is proven. Some versions of the song have the victim identifying the jewellery but most just declare that the young man is found guilty.
The sentence is seven years penal servitude, even though the judge acknowledges that the young man was “betrayed by the black velvet band”.
Beware of ‘them’ pretty colleens
The song ends with the young man issuing a warning to others. He tells them to beware of pretty young colleens when they are out on the town. He says some women will ply them with strong drink until they are unable to stand.
When they are drunk they will led into some mishap and the next they know, they will be bound for Van Diemen’s Land – modern Tasmania.
Transportation was a common punishment
Transportation to the British colonies such as Australia or Van Diemen’s land was a much used sentence by the British and Irish courts in the 18th and 19th centuries. Seven years “penal servitude” as dished out in the Black Velvet Band was commonplace.
It served two purposes for the British establishment: it saved the expense of putting criminals in British jails and it also provided cheap labour for the emerging British Empire.
Perhaps the most shocking element of the whole procedure was the fact that long penal servitude sentences were handed down for even the most trivial of crimes such as petty theft, even if it was the theft of a loaf of bread to feed a hungry family.
Penal transportation was not just punishment but also a means of suppressing Irish resistance to British rule. Songs like “Black Velvet Band” and “The Fields of Athenry” express the deep emotional scars left by this forced emigration and exile, making them poignant symbols of Irish history.
As Irish emigrants spread across the world, they carried “Black Velvet Band” with them. It evolved across Australia, Britain, and the U.S., taking on new meanings but retaining its core themes of betrayal and displacement. In Australia, where the song’s themes resonated with the experience of Irish convicts, it became particularly popular. Today, the song is performed in pubs worldwide, a testament to its lasting relevance.
The Hat with the Velvet Band
Ironically, perhaps, transportation sentences helped to spread songs like the Black Velvet Band all across the world where they were modified and reshaped to suit their new environment.
One variation known as the Hat with the Velvet Band became popular with Australian and Tasmanian fishermen in the early 19th century. In America, a version of the song emerged called the Girl in the Blue Velvet Band. There is also another version from Ireland called the Black Ribbon Band, which tells much the same story but is set in Tralee rather than Belfast.
Black Velvet Band
Black Velvet Band videos
Black Velvet Band lyrics and Chords
Variations of the Black Velvet Band
The origins of the song are uncertain but it is very old. Like many old traditional songs, especially those that have travelled the globe, the Black Velvet Band has undergone several changes and so has several versions.
In some versions, the girl merely hands the young man some jewellery that she had already stolen.
In other versions, the young woman is working as a barmaid and steals the jewellery from a customer in the bar.
Is the warning about alcohol an afterthought?
One interesting anomaly about the Black Velvet Band is that nearly every version ends with a warning about women plying men with alcohol and getting them into trouble. Yet in no version, certainly no widely used version, does the woman in the song use drink to trick the young man into being an accomplice.
It’s as though the warning is tagged on as an afterthought because it has nothing to do with the story.
Women in Irish folk songs
The depiction of the woman with the black velvet band reflects a recurring motif in Irish folk songs, where women are often cast as both objects of desire and sources of misfortune. This is seen in songs like “Molly Malone” and “Whiskey in the Jar,” where women drive the narrative and influence the fate of the male protagonist. The mysterious woman in “Black Velvet Band” represents both allure and betrayal, adding layers to the song’s message.
Modern revival and legacy of Black Velvet Band
In the 20th century, “Black Velvet Band” was revived by artists like The Dubliners, who brought its lively melody and story to new generations. Their performances, alongside those by The Pogues, ensured that this classic Irish folk song remains a favorite in pubs and concert halls. Its legacy endures as a symbol of Ireland’s rich cultural heritage and its struggles, making “Black Velvet Band” one of the most beloved songs in the Irish folk canon.