At Tara in this fateful hour-Lorica of St. Patrick

Subject: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Nov 15 - 02:17 PM

I have one reason for posting this in the music-thread section. His name is James Clarence Mangan, and in the 19th century he wrote the "O my Dark Rosaleen" translation of "Roisin Dubh," which is sung as well as recited.

In the same way that he approached "Roisin Dubh," Mangan took on the Lorica of St. Patrick: that is, through an intermediary, as it would seem Mangan himself did not have Gaelic. According to the Mangan biography by Ellen Shannon-Mangan (and supported by the Irish University Press scholars who edited the complete works, poetry and prose, of Mangan published in the 1990's), the Dubliner worked with more than one man to get the sense of the original Gaelic, of his country's literature, prior to working it into verse in English. Dr. Petrie, I believe, is the translator whom the scholars blame for telling Mangan that "I rise", as the Gaelic is correctly translated, was "At Tara," so Mangan is not directly at fault.

In the Irish University Press publication of Mangan's poetry, translated works included, the Lorica of St. Patrick is to be found in Volume 4, with the title, "Hymn of St Patrick at Tara" or something close to those words.

Between then and now, the Lorica of St Patrick has been correctly translated from the Gaelic of origin into English by more than one person. So, why do I bring up Mangan's version with its erroneous invocation of Tara (which Mangan's original spells "Tarah" for some reason)?

Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" trilogy -- fantasy, or science-fiction, or children's lit, depending on whom you ask -- prompts me to bring James Clarence Mangan forward for the credit over-due to him. L'Engle actually wrote more than three books about the Murry family, but only the first one, "A Wrinkle in Time", includes that supernatural trio, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which; and the focus of these three books is Charles Wallace Murry, who completely disappears from view in the Murry books that follow the trilogy. So the Charles Wallace Murry trilogy, if you will, is: "A Wrinkle in Time," "The Wind at the Door (I think -- am I mistaken?)," and "A Swiftly Tilting Planet."

The third of L'Engle's books, "A Swiftly Tilting Planet," observes the final hours of a dying alcoholic woman, Calvin O'Keeffe's mother. By this time Calvin has married Meg, whom he met in "A Wrinkle in Time." If you have absorbed the drama of this book, you will recall the frail old woman who says that "my grandmother from Ireland" taught her what she calls "St Patrick's Rune." The plot is extremely involved and I will leave it to others to recall it. What Mrs. O'Keeffe recalls as "St Patrick's Rune" is, in fact, not only a stanza from the Lorica of St Patrick, but it is clearly based on the translation by James Clarence Mangan, with no credit given to the translator.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Nov 15 - 02:22 PM

I do apologize. My preceding post has appeared with all manner of gobbledygook at the end which I did not put there. I give up.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: CupOfTea
Date: 14 Nov 15 - 03:58 PM

What! Give up just ween you were getting to the crux of the matter?

What IS his translation? Is it the one we are likely to have heard, or are there significant differences?

With curiosity,

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 14 Nov 15 - 04:51 PM

Lorica (excerpt)

Long loved by me. I was so lucky, years after these wonderful books listed by keberoxu, to get to know Madeleine L'Engle, to visit her house in CT which she used as the inspiration for the house Meg and Charles Wallace lived in, and to visit her office in NYC at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She was as remarkable in person as in her books.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Nov 15 - 05:47 PM

Before going further, I want to pinpoint that "At Tara" phrase, as this is where Dr. Petrie, advising James Clarence Mangan, got the Gaelic wrong.

I see the word spelled Atomriug, I guess there are other spellings. Anyway, that is where Dr. Petrie went wrong. He told Mangan it meant "At Tara." More careful English translations render it "I rise." Okay, that's that seen to.

"A Swiftly Tilting Planet," now, has this stanza built into the book in more ways than one. The dying old woman, Mrs. O'Keeffe, haltingly recalls the whole stanza in Chapter 1, and it recurs in later chapters. Besides that, I wish to copy the book's table of contents: in other words, the list below is the headings of each chapter in the book.

Contents

1. In this fateful hour
2. All Heaven with its power
3. The sun with its brightness
4. The snow with its whiteness
5. The fire with all the strength it hath
6. The lightning with its rapid wrath
7. The winds with their swiftness
8. The sea with its deepness
9. The rocks with their steepness
10. The earth with its starkness
11. All these I place
12. Between myself and the powers of darkness


And so, to Mangan. As Mrs. L'Engle never spoke of James Clarence Mangan that I know of, and it's too late to ask her now, we shall never know if the source by which she was introduced to Mangan's version even mentioned the translator. Perhaps she never knew? Mangan's poems, though they took until the 1990's to have a critical edition published, have been available in one form or another -- the popular ones have -- from shortly after Mangan's lamentably premature death to the present day. Here, for example, is the stanza in question, and it comes from an edition dated 1904; it would not surprise me, if this stanza were printed in other places with no name attached other than that of St. Patrick.

(from "St. Patrick's Hymn Before Tarah")

At Tarah to-day, in this fateful hour,
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And fire with all the strength it hath,
And lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness,
All these I place
By God's almighty help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness.

Published in Dublin by M. H. Gill & Son, 1904

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: CupOfTea
Date: 14 Nov 15 - 08:28 PM

Now I need to hit the library for the MadelineL'Engle books. "Wrinkle in Time" is the only one read, and that decades ago. Thanks for bringing it up. I've long been fond of the hymn version "I bind unto myself" in all it's key & rhythm change peculiarities.

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: maeve
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 07:10 AM

Nice start to the thread- I love the piece and Madeleine's writing.

Based on my conversations with her as my mentor in a writing program, I assure you Madeleine L'Engle knew her sources. If interested in tracking down her source for this particular and lovely piece, one could contact her publisher. Since many of her papers were given to Wheaton College, one might also find help there. At least one of my poems are there in a box or folder.

http://archon.wheaton.edu/?p=collections/controlcard&id=4

(One point of accuracy, she was married to Hugh Franklin and was called "Mrs. Franklin", not "Mrs. L'Engle, in private life.)

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 01:50 PM

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated! (no disrespect intended by calling the author of "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" by "mrs. L'Engle")

In the interest of complete disclosure, I will contribute, in a few more posts, what remains of "St. Patrick's Hymn before Tarah" in its translated version by James Clarence Mangan. I will go back to its beginning here.

ST. PATRICK'S HYMN BEFORE TARAH

(FROM THE ORIGINAL IRISH)

At Tarah to-day, in this awful hour,
    I call on the Holy Trinity!
Glory to him who reigneth in power,
The GOD of the elements, Father and Son,
And Paraclete Spirit, which Three are the One,
    The ever-existing Divinity!

At Tarah to-day I call on the Lord,
On Christ, the omnipotent Word,
Who came to redeem from Death and Sin
    Our fallen race,
    And I put and I place
The virtue that lieth and liveth in
    His Incarnation lowly,
    His Baptism pure and holy,
His life of toil, of tears, and affliction,
His dolorous Death -- his Crucifixion,
His Burial, sacred and sad and lone,
    His Resurrection to life again,
His glorious Ascension to Heaven's bright Throne,
And, lastly, his future dread
    And terrible coming to judge all men --
Both the Living and Dead.....

At Tarah to-day I put and I place
    The virtue that dwells in the Seraphim's love,
And the virtue and grace
    That are in the obedience
    And unshaken allegiance
   Of all the Archangels and angels above,
And in the hope of the Resurrection
To everlasting reward and election,
And in the prayers of the Fathers of old,
And in the truths the Prophets foretold,
And in the Apostle's manifold preachings,
And in the Confessors' faith and teachings,
And in the purity ever dwelling
    Within the immaculate virgins' breast,
And in the actions bright and excelling
    Of all good men, the just and the blest.....



At this point, we arrive at the stanza already submitted in an earlier post, the one that ends "between myself and the powers of darkness."

There follow seven more stanzas, and they will be contributed in a future post. Thanks for listening.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 02:45 PM

Continuing where we left off, from The Collected Works of James Clarence Mangan: Poems, volume 4, [publication dates]1848 - 1912.


After "between myself and the powers of darkness," these stanzas conclude the poem.


    At Tarah to-day
    May GOD be my stay!
May the strength of GOD now nerve me!
May the power of GOD preserve me!
May GOD the Almighty be near me!
    May GOD the Almighty espy me!
May GOD the Almighty hear me!
    May GOD give me eloquent speech!
May the arm of GOD protect me!
May the wisdom of GOD direct me!
    May GOD give me power to teach and to preach!
May the shield of GOD defend me!
Mat the host of GOD attend me,
    And ward me,
    And guard me,
Against the wiles of demons and devils,
Against the temptations of vices and evils,
Against the bad passions and wrathful will
   Of the reckless mind and the wicked heart,
Against every man who designs me ill,
   Whether leagued with others or plotting apart!

    In this hour of hours
    I place all those powers
Between myself and every foe
Who threatens my body and soul
With danger or dole,
To protect me against the evils that flow
From lying soothsayers' incantations,
From the gloomy laws of the Gentile nations,
From Heresy's hateful innovations,
From Idolatry's rites and invocations.
    Be those my defenders,
   My guards against every ban --
And spell of smiths, and Druids, and women;
In fine, against every knowledge that renders
   The light Heaven sends us dim in
    The spirit and soul of Man!

    May Christ, I pray,
    Protect me to-day
   Against poison and fire,
Against drowning and wounding,
That so, in His grace abounding,
   I may earn the Preacher's hire!

    Christ, as a light,
    Illumine and guide me!
Christ, as a shield, o'ershadow and cover me!
Christ be under me! Christ be over me!
    Christ be beside me
    On left-hand and right!
Christ be before me, behind me, about me!
Christ this day be within and without me!

Christ, the lowly and meek,
   Christ, the All-Powerful, be
In the heart of each to whom I speak,
   In the mouth of each who speaks to me!
    In all who draw near me,
    Or see me or hear me!

At Tarah to-day, in this awful hour,
   I call on the Holy Trinity!
Glory to Him who reigneth in power,
The GOD of the Elements, Father, and Son,
And Paraclete Spirit, which Three are the One,
   The ever-existing Divinity!

Salvation dwells with the Lord,
With Christ, the Omnipotent Word.
From generation to generation
Grant us, O Lord, thy grace and salvation!                   [1848]

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: maeve
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 03:09 PM

Rita Connolly sings "The Deer's Cry" at Inauguration of Michael D Higgins, Presi

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 04:07 PM

One more remark about that first verb in Gaelic. I am entirely out of my depth here. My previous posts about this phrase are incorrect. Even the spelling is off....let me try again.

"Atomruig" is more like it. And the opinions I listened to most recently, indicate that it is even trickier than I realized to translate this into English.

Dr. Petrie, as stated above, went completely off track. The editors of Mangan's poetry, in Volume 4, write this in their notes:
"George Petrie printed this as A Tomriug....Hence Mangan's translation." Endnote 1, page 274, note to page 29.

Atom ruig, on the other hand, can go more than one way, depending on which verb is being conjugated, writes one student; hence there is one verb which means "bind," and another verb which means "raise/rise." .....no wonder there are variations in the English translations. And I ought to shut up altogether about Gaelic in my complete ignorance. But I had to bring this up with regard to Mangan, and so to L'Engle.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 07:48 PM

"A Swiftly Tilting Planet" by Madeleine L'Engle dates from 1978 I think. By this time several generations of people have read this book. This may be their only exposure, for some of them, to Mangan's translation of the Lorica of St Patrick -- some of them may see the Lorica nowhere else. If nothing else, this work of fiction has given the poetry wider exposure.

When the L'Engle title was published, there existed no critical, definitive edition of everything by James Clarence Mangan, whether original or translated. Yes, collections of his poems were available, always have been since after his death. But the academic, scholarly research project that Mangan deserved had yet to be completed.

Mangan really deserves his very own thread! But this thread, on the excerpt of his translation-work which has had more exposure than most, will have to serve as a point of departure. I was careless with the details, in a previous post, about the volume in which his version of the Lorica can be found. Let me try again:

Poems, Volume 4: [published]1848 - 1912;
also, General Index [to all four volumes of Mangan's poems]
The Collected Works of James Clarence Mangan
edited by:   Jacques Chuto
             Tadhg O Dushlaine
             Peter Van de Kamp
Irish Academic Press: Dublin / Portland, OR, 1999
ISBN 978-07165-26001

"St. Patrick's Hymn Before Tarah", pp. 29 - 32

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 07:06 AM

I'm loving this discussion. maeve, we must share Madeleine stories some time soon!

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: maeve
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 07:26 AM

Love to, Allison. Haven't seen you for ages!
Maeve

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Dec 16 - 07:17 PM

Some remarks about the author named Ellen several posts back.
Her maiden name is Ellen Carmichael. When she married, her husband was a successful actor in the Golden Age of black-and-white television pioneering shows; his stage name was Richard Shannon and you can look up his entry online at the Internet Movie Database, it's impressive. Shannon I believe had already married and divorced. There were children in time, and the decision was taken to leave Southern California, where Shannon had lived and worked, and raise the family someplace away from the entertainment business.

They went to the Pacific Northwest, and Shannon became a dedicated family man. Here's the neat part. His birthname was Richard Esberry Mangan. Although James Clarence Mangan sired no children that I know of in his brief tragic life -- all his creativity went into his remarkable output of poetry and essays -- he came from a large family, and while having no direct descendants, the poet Mangan had sufficient uncles, aunts, and cousins to have people named Mangan, through to the present generations, who have blood ties to him. Richard Shannon was such a blood relative of James Clarence Mangan, a century or so later.

Ellen Carmichael Shannon took up writing, and one thing led to another; meantime her husband began to be known as Richard Shannon Mangan in his new life away from his native San Francisco and his old profession as an actor. When she got involved with the scholars who were preparing the works of James Clarence Mangan for a critical edition, the first really scholarly presentation of this author beloved of common people and poets alike, she herself took on the challenge of writing the poet Mangan's biography, under the name Ellen Shannon-Mangan.

Her husband died before the biography saw publication, but she acknowledges him in her forward to the book. The biography, which has the poet's name for its title, was the first of the volumes to be published by Irish University Press. Today, that challenging project has been completed, and all the volumes published; and Ellen Shannon-Mangan, although very elderly, is still living at last report.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Dec 16 - 01:09 AM

Above, Maeve linked to a Rita Connolly performance of the Shaun Davey "Deer's Cry." Each verse begins with "I Arise Today." Wikipedia says the 1983 Shaun Davey composition uses lyrics based on a translation by Kuno Meyer.

I think this YouTube recording is taken from Shaun Davey's 1983 Pilgrim album, on which Connolly was a soloist.

I had thought the title "The Deer's Cry" came from Davey, but apparently it is a traditional name for the prayers also known as "St. Patrick's Breastplate" and "The Lorica (protection prayer) of St. Patrick."

This Website (click) definitively claims that the hymn was written by Patrick himself in 433. I tend to doubt definitive claims...

The prayer is often called "Faeth Fiada" in Irish, but I don't know that the author actually gave it a title. The Latin word lōrīca originally meant "armor" or "breastplate."

-Joe-

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour-Lorica of St. Patrick
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Dec 16 - 07:48 PM

Here's Kuno Meyer's translation in full.

THE DEER'S CRY

I arise to-day
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise to-day
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise to-day
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preachings of apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise to-day
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendour of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise to day
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in a multitude.

I summon to-day all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me to-day
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise to-day
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour-Lorica of St. Patrick
From: AmyLove
Date: 06 Mar 17 - 06:47 PM

On pages 25-27 here ...

Saint Patrick - The Writings of St. Patrick

... biblical references to many of the lines from The Deer's Cry are given.

And for anyone looking for some St Patrick-related reading, let me share two wonderful books I came across today at archive.org:

St. Patrick, His Writings and Life

The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick, Including The Life by Jocelin

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour-Lorica of St. Patrick
From: AmyLove
Date: 06 Mar 17 - 06:50 PM

Oh, and I meant to ask, does anyone here know of any recordings of St. Patrick's Hymn before Tarah, recordings that actually mention "Tarah"?

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour-Lorica of St. Patrick
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 06 Mar 17 - 07:03 PM

The only thing I can think of, regarding the post just before this one,
is audiobook recordings of
"A Swiftly Tilting Planet" by Madeleine L'Engle.

Many of Mrs. L'Engle's fantasy books are in Audible Audio Edition from Listening Library. The reader is Jennifer Ehle.
What I just specified is the digital download format I think.
The same recording, with the same reader, is for sale as an Audio CD as well.

There also exists an audiocassette recording, and Madeleine L'Engle herself reads the book on that one. Word of warning: Some people DESPISE the sound of L'Engle reading her books. She is no professional reader. The people who dislike her readings, complain of two things: the emotions are overdone; her voice quality has a ragged edge that the listener found harsh. I've never heard these myself.

Subject: RE: At Tara in this fateful hour-Lorica of St. Patrick
From: AmyLove
Date: 06 Mar 17 - 07:35 PM

keberoxu,

Thank you for that information. I loved reading L'Engle's books as a kid, by the way, and I'm sure Jennifer Ehle does a wonderful job with the audiobooks. I'm guessing "Tarah" is spoken in the audiobooks. I was hoping there were recordings of it sung. Perhaps there aren't any.