{title: The Black Velvet Band}
{artist: Traditional (Irish / UK)}
{album: Mid-19th-century Irish/English transportation ballad; pre-dates standard 1928 cutoff for US PD; widely sung by Irish folk revivalists from the 1960s onward}
{key: G}
{tempo: 110}
{difficulty: intermediate}
{phase: 4}
{strand: S}
{feel: sway}
{lead_voice: mid}
{lead_mode: solo}
{lead_demand: moderate}
{harmony: M,H}
{a_cappella: no}
{kit: gtr,fdl}
{set_role: romp}
{lang: en}
{country_tags: IE}
{copyright: pd}
{tags: chorus,forecastle,irish,public-domain,shanty,singalong,story-song,traditional,transportation}

{c: An Irish/English transportation-to-the-colonies ballad — a young man framed by a beautiful girl with a black velvet band, sent to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). The chorus is one of the great Irish-folk singalongs. Public domain.}
{c: Four chords (G, C, D, Em). Steady 4/4, around 100-120 BPM. Lead carries the story, full crew on the chorus.}

{start_of_verse}
In a [G]neat little town they call Bel[C]fast
[G]Apprenticed to trade I was [D]bound
And [G]many an hour's sweet [C]happiness
I [G]spent in that [D]neat little [G]town
Till [G]bad misfortune came [C]o'er me
That [G]caused me to stray from the [D]land
[G]Far away from me [C]friends and re[G]lations
Be[Em]trayed by the [D]black velvet [G]band
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Her [G]eyes they shone like the [C]diamonds
You'd [G]think she was queen of the [D]land
And her [G]hair hung over her [C]shoulder
Tied [G]up with a [D]black velvet [G]band
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
I [G]took a stroll down Broad[C]way
[G]Meaning not long for to [D]stay
When [G]who should I meet but this [C]pretty fair maid
Came a-[G]tripping a[D]long the [G]highway
She was [G]both fair and hand[C]some
Her [G]neck it was just like a [D]swan's
And her [G]hair it hung over her [C]shoulder
Tied [G]up with a [D]black velvet [G]band
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Her [G]eyes they shone like the [C]diamonds
You'd [G]think she was queen of the [D]land
And her [G]hair hung over her [C]shoulder
Tied [G]up with a [D]black velvet [G]band
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
I [G]took a stroll with this [C]pretty fair maid
And a [G]gentleman passing us [D]by
Well, I [G]knew she meant the [C]doing of him
By the [G]look in her [D]roguish black [G]eye
A [G]gold watch she took from his [C]pocket
And [G]placed it right into my [D]hand
And the [G]very first thing that I [C]said was
"Bad [Em]luck to the [D]black velvet [G]band"
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Her [G]eyes they shone like the [C]diamonds
You'd [G]think she was queen of the [D]land
And her [G]hair hung over her [C]shoulder
Tied [G]up with a [D]black velvet [G]band
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
Be[G]fore the judge and the [C]jury
Next [G]morning I had to ap[D]pear
The [G]judge he said to me, "Young [C]fellow
The [G]case against [D]you it is [G]clear
And [G]seven long years is your [C]sentence
You're [G]going to Van Diemen's [D]Land
[G]Far away from your [C]friends and re[G]lations
Be[Em]trayed by the [D]black velvet [G]band"
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Her [G]eyes they shone like the [C]diamonds
You'd [G]think she was queen of the [D]land
And her [G]hair hung over her [C]shoulder
Tied [G]up with a [D]black velvet [G]band
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== HOW TO PLAY IT =====}
{c: Lead carries the story; band stays restrained on the verses. Full crew on the chorus, three-part harmony optional.}
{c: Strum: steady 4/4 boom-chuck. Mandolin chop on 2 and 4.}
{c: Reference recordings: The Dubliners (1967, the canonical Irish folk version); The High Kings; The Wolfe Tones. Great Big Sea has recorded it live.}