I found this unlistenable, possibly because I have no Irish ancestry or possibly just because I thought it was annoying. Oh well.
The Carlton Showband formed in Brampton, Ontario, and consisted of five expatriate Irishmen and one transplant from Nova Scotia; they eventually added one more Irishman and one more Nova Scotian.
"The Merry Ploughboy" is a traditional Irish folk song written during the Irish War of Independence, which was between 1919 and 1921. The Carlton Showband's version reached #4 on the Canadian national chart but didn't chart elsewhere. A version released by Irish singer Dermot O'Brien at about the same time reached #1 on the Irish charts for six weeks. The song fell out of favour when conflict broke out in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.
The Carlton Showband went on to become the house band for The Pig and Whistle, a television variety show that aired on CTV from 1967 to 1977. They continued performing after that until they disbanded in 1996. Fred White, one of the former Nova Scotians, is the only member of the original lineup who is still alive.
Created May 4, 2026.