Subject: Seal Songs From: GUEST,Donna (Aus) Date: 09 Mar 00 - 01:32 AM I came across the seal song below on digitrad, does anyone know any more info about this? Like are their any recordings of it? Who transcribed it if it has in fact been transcribed? etc..
SEAL SONG cho: Ho i ho i hi o ho i ho i hi o ho i i ho i ho i hi o ho i Cha robh mi'm' aonar an raoir. [I was not alone last night.] 'S mairg 's an tir so, 's mairg 's an tir, 'g ithe dhaoine 'n riochd a' bhidh; nach fhaic sibh ceannard an t-sluaigh Goil air teine gu cruaidh cruinn. [Sad the land is, sad the land, Eating people for its food; See how the chief of all our men Boils on fire that's hot and round. 'S mise nighean Aiodh mhic Eoghain, gum b'eolach mi mu na sgeirean; gur mairg a dheanadh mo bhualadh, bean uasal mi o thir eile. [I'm the daughter of Hugh mac Ewen, And I know the skerries well; And woe to him that would strike at me, A lady from a far country. ] Thig an smeorach, thig an druid, thig gach eun a dh' ionnsaigh nid, thig am bradan thar a' chuain; gu la Luain cha ghluaisear mis'. [Come the mavis, come the thrush, Come each bird that seeks its nest, Come the salmon over the sea -- Till the day I shall not move. ] Here's a seal song from the rocks of Haisgeir, in the Hebrides. It is sung by a seal woman, and was heard by some sealers while they were eating some seal they had just popped on the barbie. The MacOdrums and other families who claimed descent from seals did not eat seal, in spite of the fact that seals were one of the few protein sources available on the islands. (Other than the ever-present fish, that is.) The style of the song is not very different (other than the first verse) from laments for historical human chiefs. @Scots @seal filename[ SEALSONG MO'B |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: GUEST,Angun Date: 09 Mar 00 - 09:55 AM Hi, I think Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh sings part of this song in Matt Molloys CD "Shadows on Stone", track 9, "Music of the seals" It can alson be found in a book written by David Thomson called "The people of the sea" It´s a great Cd and a great book! Worth a try! All the best, Angun |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Susan of DT Date: 09 Mar 00 - 11:45 AM for other seal songs, search for silkie |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: MMario Date: 09 Mar 00 - 12:12 PM or selkie, or selky *grin* |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Steve Latimer Date: 10 Mar 00 - 10:45 AM The only song invovling seals that I know also involved a lead filled snowshoe. |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE SEALING CRUISE OF THE LONE FLIER^^ From: raredance Date: 10 Mar 00 - 10:17 PM The following is a 20th century "folk song by committee" telling the story of a sealing voayge. It is printed in "Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland" by Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf (1933 Harvard University Press, reprinted 1968 Folklore Associates). In the notes Greenleaf says she got the song from Herbert Watkins who said that the crew of the "Lone Flier" started making up the song at the beginning of the trip, whenever something happened someone would add a line or two or a verse. The put out from Twillingate and when they returned they submitted it to the local newpaper signing it "A Young Timer". For the tune they used "The Lumber Camp Song" (that's the one with the 'hurling down the pine' line in it).
THE SEALING CRUISE OF THE LONE FLIER
Come all ye jolly seal-men and listen to my song;
Our ship was fitted very well, from a radio to a shovel.
It was on a Tuesday morning when our captain came from shop.
Some of us took oilclothes and one of us took a watch,
Our captain's name was Solomon White, our chief mate was John Oake,
At four o'clock that evening we put her in the ice;
Northeast by east and east northeast her course we steered that day,
The captain he did go on board and the navigator too,
We motored until three o'clock, and then we struck the fat,
We killed most everyting we saw, from a hood unto a harp;
Peter Trooke, a smart young man, was working in the hold
OUr crew all numbered twenty-eight, with seven in the watch;
It was on a Tuesday morning we made another start,
Seldom-come-by was our next port; it was there we had to call;
And one thing then we did spy our, that our rudder was split in two;
On the twenty-fifth of April, as we were near our town,
rich r
|
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: bob schwarer Date: 11 Mar 00 - 11:32 AM Gordon Bok. "Peter Kagan and the Wind". Bob S. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 11 Mar 00 - 12:49 PM The Lumbercamp Song is on the DT, here,but no tune is given. Would anyone care to post a midi of it, or of "Seal Song", for that matter, to the Mudcat Midi site? Malcolm |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: raredance Date: 11 Mar 00 - 04:24 PM The tune is in the book, but I don't have any good way of entering it into the forum. rich r |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Wolfgang Date: 12 Mar 00 - 05:14 AM Davy Lowston (DT) Wolfgang |
Subject: Lyr Add: COME ALL YE JOLLY ICE-HUNTERS^^ From: raredance Date: 12 Mar 00 - 01:05 PM This song also comes from Greenleaf's "Ballads and Sea songs of Newfoundland". It is really a storm-at-sea/ship-wreck song, but the ship in question was a sealer as indicated by the term "ice-hunter" in the title and first stanza. Greenleaf obtained the song from Gerald S Doyle. Doyle was quoted, "This song was written in 1833. It is about the oldest song of a sealing nature now in existence, and has 'brought down the house' in the for'castle of many a seaer in the days of the Square Riggers." Note that the "Daneil O'Connell" and the "Lone Flier" both headed out from port, the second week of March although nearly a hundred years apart. The first two lines of both songs are nearly identical (although pretty widely used 'come all ye' format). Both ships got stuck in the ice at four o'clock in the afternoon. And check out the numbers of the crew. Eerie coincidence? COME ALL YE JOLLY ICE-HUNTERS
Come all ye jolly ice-hunters and listen to my song
William Burke was our commander' the "Daniel O'Connell" was our good ship's name;
'Twas on the fourth of April, right well I mind the day,
"Stand by your topsail halliards; stand by to let them go;
At six 0'clock next morning we were a dreadful wreck;
We could not keep a light below, the seas ran mountains high,
Now a few days after, assistance was at hand, rich r |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Stewie Date: 13 Mar 00 - 03:50 AM For those interested in ballads, I have posted the text of the epic ballad 'The Lady Odivere' as a separate thread. It tells the full story of the 'Grey Silkie'. Not for the faint-hearted though - 93 stanzas. --Stewie. |
Subject: 'The Lady Odivere' From: GUEST Date: 15 Nov 04 - 03:01 PM |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: mg Date: 15 Nov 04 - 03:40 PM Bill Gallaher has a very nice singable one called Mary and the Seal. For swiling songs...Davy Losten??? I did seal I did seal.. Harbor Grace is a very fine place. Southern Cross. We got up steam in early March and shortly did embark. Bill Gallaher and now Marion have written about the sealing disaster of 1914?? |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Margret RoadKnight Date: 15 Nov 04 - 07:04 PM "Song of the Seals", recorded by Jean Redpath |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: mg Date: 15 Nov 04 - 08:56 PM Great line from Harbor Grace song.. Billy was our captain bold and Georgie our commander but a great big sea washed over he and killed our Newfoundlander... (might have the names mixed up) mg |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Dead Horse Date: 16 Nov 04 - 06:32 AM Not a song, but a poem, Casey at the bat! |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Dave'sWife Date: 18 Dec 04 - 04:16 PM I recently heard a song again that is on a Shawn Colvin CD that is apparently based on a Kipling Poem..it's called The Lullabye of the Seals or something like that. It's very sweet and short. Oh hush be my baby, the night is behind us and black are the waters that sparkle so green. The moon or' the combers looks donward to find us at rest in the hollows that wrestle between... Where billow meets spillow and softly thy pillow ah weary be the flippers curled at thy eaves(???) .... something, something... The storm shall not wake thee nor shark overtake thee Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging sea Where Billow meets meets spillow then softly they pillow and weary be flippers curled at thy eaves. The storm shall not smite thee The shark shall not bite thee Alseep in the arms of the soft swinging sea. I think I might be making up that last verse, but that's the way I sang it to a kid after they heard the CD and demanded the Lullabye. Not knowing the whole song, I made it up as I went along. It's a cute little waltz. if there are more verses, I;d love to have them. That's all I can remember. It is a darling song. Sort of up there with Pony Boy for rocking songs. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: GUEST Date: 31 Dec 04 - 09:25 AM Isn't there a traditional song called "The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry"? (As far as I know, "Silkie" comes from the Norse word for Seal, and "Sule Skerry" is in some of the Scottish Islands (possibly Orkney, or maybe Shetland/Hebrides). There is a Selk Island just off the coast of Co. Down, Northern Ireland, which, I have read, was named after the Norse word for Seal. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: GUEST,Com Seangan Date: 31 Dec 04 - 11:46 AM John McCormack had a beautiful version in English of the Song of the Seals (from the Hebrides)in his earlier repertoire. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: eleanor c Date: 31 Dec 04 - 12:21 PM Matt Molloy's album Shadows on Stone has a long flutemungous instrumental track telling the tale of the Selkie. One of my desert island cds as it appens. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Peace Date: 31 Dec 04 - 12:24 PM Run to Cadence with the U.S. Navy SEALS (CD) |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: SINSULL Date: 31 Dec 04 - 12:32 PM "You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me, You Seal" was sung at the Getaway. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: GUEST,dave'sWife Date: 08 Aug 05 - 05:31 PM Sinsull - you are very silly. I just popped into this thread to get the lyrics to that Shawn Colvin song again. |
Subject: LYR ADD: LUKANNON From: Le Scaramouche Date: 08 Aug 05 - 06:04 PM The Kipling poem comes from the White Seal, one of the Jungle Book stories. Here is the song given after the story: This is the great deep-sea song that all the St. Paul seals sing when they are heading back to their beaches in the summer. It is a sort of very sad seal National Anthem. I met my mates in the morning (and, oh, but I am old!) Where roaring on the ledges the summer ground-swell rolled; I heard them lift the chorus that drowned the breakers' song– The Beaches of Lukannon–two million voices strong. The song of pleasant stations beside the salt lagoons, The song of blowing squadrons that shuffled down the dunes, The song of midnight dances that churned the sea to flame– The Beaches of Lukannon–before the sealers came! I met my mates in the morning (I'll never meet them more!); They came and went in legions that darkened all the shore. And o'er the foam-flecked offing as far as voice could reach We hailed the landing-parties and we sang them up the beach. The Beaches of Lukannon–the winter wheat so tall– The dripping, crinkled lichens, and the sea-fog drenching all! The platforms of our playground, all shining smooth and worn! The Beaches of Lukannon–the home where we were born! I met my mates in the morning, a broken, scattered band. Men shoot us in the water and club us on the land; Men drive us to the Salt House like silly sheep and tame, And still we sing Lukannon–before the sealers came. Wheel down, wheel down to southward; oh, Gooverooska, go! And tell the Deep-Sea Viceroys the story of our woe; Ere, empty as the shark's egg the tempest flings ashore, The Beaches of Lukannon shall know their sons no more! |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: GUEST Date: 08 Aug 05 - 09:49 PM "You Say The Battle is Over" written by David Mallet has a brief mention of young seals and fur coats in one of the verses. The song is on Mallet's 1997 CD "Parallel Lives". It was also recorded many years ago by John Denver on "Autograph" |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Leadfingers Date: 09 Aug 05 - 05:54 AM And dont forget that Seal sings in the Middle Bar at Sidmouth Festival |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Liz the Squeak Date: 09 Aug 05 - 06:04 AM Les Barker wrote a moving poem about a selkie, it's called 'The Ship Hotel' from his 'Jack Spaniels' book.... A tune has been written for it and it has been performed in public. There was a standup argument because no-one believed it was by Les because it's serious. LTS |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: Artful Codger Date: 15 Jun 06 - 11:41 AM You can hear a MIDI of "The Lumber Camp Song" (the tune used for "The Sealing Cruise of the Lone Flier") at The Great Canadian Tunebook site. |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: old salty Date: 16 Jun 06 - 05:16 AM the seal children by paul metsers |
Subject: RE: Seal Songs From: My guru always said Date: 16 Jun 06 - 05:19 AM Beachcomber by S Cowe of Jack the Lad As I was out walking on North Huis sand There I met a seal maiden, she gave me her hand And I kissed it so sweet, she followed me home And she spoke in a voice so forlorn All the day I've been searching the shore for my skin For without it I cannot return to my kin But the skin I had hidden, to guard with my life And I asked her to stay with me, be my wife So we married so happy for many a year With six beautiful children without shame or fear And I kept the skin moist, but cleverly his Always wanting the things that she did Till the time came she obviously yearned to get back And my son saw me hiding the skin in a sack Told his mother who waited till night, then she crept And she kissed us goodbye as we softly slept So she made for the shore to be rid of dry land Her footsteps disturbing not one grain of sand And she dressed in her skin and swam back to her folk And the ache in my heart it was broken But I notice each morning, about the same spot Lay a basket of fishes, she has not forgot Since she went from my house, we never hunt seals And not one of my clan has been lost at sea And my seal maiden whose heart will ever with seal folk be |
Share Thread: |
Subject: | Help |
From: | |
Preview Automatic Linebreaks Make a link ("blue clicky") |