There was crying in Granada

“There was crying in Granada” is a traditional song named in the novel’s note on its songs. Its appearance situates the phrase within a body of inherited song used to evoke Granada’s history, rather than presenting it as an original lyric written for the novel.

Identification and Source

The author’s note groups “There was crying in Granada” with “Alas, Alhama!” and “Riders gallop through the Elvira gate…” and identifies all three as traditional songs quoted by Francesca Claremount in Catherine of Aragon. The note supplies no further information about this song’s date, authorship, melody, or the particular events it recounts.

Place Among the Book’s Songs

The note distinguishes these traditional songs from “A palm tree stands in the middle of Rusafa,” which it attributes to Abd al Rahman, in a translation by D. F. Ruggles quoted by Maria Rosa Menocal. The distinction clarifies that “There was crying in Granada” enters the book through a cited tradition, while the palm-tree poem has a named author and a separate translation history.

Historical Resonance

The author’s research note describes an effort to give voice to the people and culture of al-Andalus, including the history of Granada under Isabella and Ferdinand. In that context, the song’s title offers a compact image of collective grief. The note, however, does not identify its subject or connect it to a specific event, so its precise historical meaning remains unstated.