Source of The Name "Green Linnet"
A linnet is a red-breasted song bird known for its twills and twitters, however in the Irish rebel song tradition the name "Green Linnet" has a specific meaning. It was the code name for Napoleon Bonaparte who they hoped would break the chains of British rule. Indeed in the early 19th century the Society of United Irishmen (the Irish independence organization led by Theobald Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet), allied themselves with France against Britain, but as history would prove, to no effect. The songs, however, were passed down to latter generations.
Read more about this topic: Green Linnet Records
Famous quotes containing the words source of, source, green and/or linnet:
“There is no such source of error as the pursuit of absolute truth.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to “a semi-official statement”; if they have fallen into conversation with a stranger at a bar, they can conscientiously describe him as “a source that has hitherto proved unimpeachable.” It is only when the journalist is reporting a whim of his own, and one to which he attaches minor importance, that he defines it as the opinion of “well-informed circles.””
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“I’ll tell you one thing. If a little green man pops out at me I’m shooting first and asking questions later.”
—Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1922–1978)
“The linnet and the throstle, too, and after dark the long halloo
And golden-eyed tu-whit, tu-whooof owls that ogle London.”
—Alfred Noyes (1880–1958)