Garton Mother's Lullaby

Subject: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Lynn Koch
Date: 08 Dec 97 - 12:54 PM

Does anyone know the origin of Garton Mother's Lullaby? From its title I infer that it comes from France, but I have no confirmation of this. It appears on Disney's recording for children with AIDS, called "For Our Children", where it's sung by Meryl Streep. The last phrase goes something like "The crickets sing you a lullaby/Beside the dying fire." I also included an instrumental version of it on my recording of folk songs for children, "The Fox, Old Blue and Dinosaurs Too".

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 08 Dec 97 - 02:01 PM

Lynn, THE GARTAN MOTHER'S LULLABY (note the spelling is "a" and not "o" in Gartan) is from County Donegal, Ireland. The words are by Seosamh MacCathmhaoil. I posted a correction of the lyrics in the DT in an earlier thread this fall. You can search the forum using my name (Alice). It was in either the lullaby or the women's song circle, I think. Alice in Montana [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 22 Jul 98 - 07:26 PM

Seosamh MacCathmhaoil was also known as the poet Joseph Campbell. Lough Garton is in Donegal, apparently - he mentions it in several poems. Lived about 1880-1940?

Regards

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From:
Date: 03 Jun 99 - 01:54 PM

Refresh

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 03 Jun 99 - 02:12 PM

Gartan, Gartan, with an "A"!!!! (and it's TEE-play)
.... alice is frustrated today

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 03 Jun 99 - 02:27 PM

From the thread called "Lullabye Land"

Subject: RE: Lullabye Land
From: Alice
Date: 04-Oct-97 - 06:25 PM

My favorite is "The Gartan Mother's Lullaby". Dick, I checked this in the DT and have some corrections for you. First, it is Gartan, not Garton. My sources are Irish Country Songs, collected and arranged by Herbert Hughes, vol.one, 1909, and the album notes from Songs of Ireland by Mary O'Hara, written by Liam Clancy, 1958. In the second line, it sounds something like Eeval, but it refers to "Aoibheal", who guards the Grey Rock. I have another source, 'True Irish Ghost Stories', which refers to her as a banshee rather than just a fairy woman, as Liam Clancy calls her. In the ghost story book, it reads, "The most famous Banshee of ancient times was that attached to the kingly house of O'Brien, Aibhill, who haunted the rock of Graglea above Killaloe, near the old palace of Kincora. In A.D. 1014 was fought the battle of Clontarf, from which the aged king, Brian Boru, knew that he would never come away alive, for the previous night Aibhill had appeared to him to tell him of his impending fate."

THE GARTAN MOTHER'S LULLABY

Sleep, O babe, for the red bee hums
The silent twilight's fall.
Eeval (Aoibheal) from the Grey Rock comes
To wrap the earth in thrall.
A lyan* van o, my child, my joy,
My love and heart's desire,
The crickets sing you lullaby
Beside the dying fire.

Dusk is drawn, and the Green Man's thorn
Is wreathed in rings of fog.
Sheevra sails his boat til morn,
Upon the starry bog.
A lyan van o, the paly moon
Hath brimmed her cusp in dew,
And weeps to hear the sad sleep-tune
I sing, O love, to you.

repeat first verse.

Alice in Montana

Subject: RE: Gartan Mother's Lullaby
From: Philippa
Date: 04 Jun 99 - 04:14 AM

I couldn't find the song in the DT yesterday when I answered the other thread - because I didn't try the spelling variation "Garton". As Alice points out GARTAN is correct.
Campbell may have written 'lyan van', but the Irish Gaelic spelling is 'leanbhan' - a child.
I think there's an archived thread about the Green Man. Can anybody tell us about 'Sheevra'?

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 04 Jun 99 - 09:24 AM

Phillipa, in 1997 I mailed a copy of the lyrics and music to Dick for the DT. The music I sent was the version as it was published by Herbert Hughes in 1909. That is the one Mary O'Hara recorded.
I didn't think it was in the DT at first, because of the misspelled title. Hughes spelled "lyan van" and "Eeval" in the lyrics. If I have time, I will scan the music and post it with a link here.

alice

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 05 Jun 99 - 12:27 PM

The sheet music and lyrics of The Gartan Mother's Lullaby is at this page ----> click here

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 06 Jun 99 - 12:10 AM

Philippa, I found some information on Sheevra:

Siabra [sheevra]

The class of fairies called siabra [sheevra], who were also Dedannans - a sort of disreputable poor relations of Manannan and the Dagda - were powerful, demoniac, and dangerous elves. They are mentioned in our earliest literature. To this day the name is quite familiar among the people, even those who speak only English: and they often call a crabbed little boy - small for his age-a "little sheevra" exactly as Concobar mac Nessa, nineteen centuries ago, when he was displeased with the boy Cuculainn, calls him a "little imp of a sheevra." The sheevras were often incited by druids and others to do mischief to mortals. In revenge for King Cormac mac Art's leaning towards Christianity, the druids let loose sheevras against him, who choked him with the bone of a salmon, while he was eating his dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The above is quoted from a website on paganism in the history of Ireland (definitions and descriptions of many interesting things, including the banshee Eevil of the grey rock). Here's the link.
Mythology : Gods, Goblins, and Phantoms.

alice in montana

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: GUEST,Lauren
Date: 17 May 10 - 06:12 PM

i love all the helpful info, but i can't find the score. the link that alice gives is broken, does anyone know where i can find the score? thanks!

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: GUEST,Tannywheeler
Date: 17 May 10 - 11:56 PM

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: Alice
Date: 18 May 10 - 12:06 AM

I still have some images of the score linked to the bottom of my page on the Gartan Mother's Lullaby. Did you scroll down?

Go to this page

http://my.montana.net/aliceflynn/gartan.html

Scroll down to "For the original melody collected and used by Herbert Hughes,click here for page one, page two,"...

Pages one and two are just repeated on three and four, so pgs 3,4, images are no longer there. Just print one and two and you'll have the entire melody.


Alice

Subject: RE: Garton Mother's Lullaby
From: GUEST,Tw
Date: 18 May 10 - 12:11 AM

ooppss!!
In 1960-61 I learned this song for my voice teacher & actually won a 2nd place in a local contest with a program which included this song. It was either in "Reliquary of English Song", or the 1st or 2nd volume of Boosey & Hawkes "Irish Folk Songs". Prob. the latter. The lines about Sheevra quoted above seemed to me & my teacher to refer to the moon; some traditional spirit character sailing his boat becomes the moon. A lovely, soft song. Several years later, in a rocking chair with a baby in my arms it's one that I dredged up--along with Aunt Rhody, Jean Ritchie's Darby's Ram, several All the Pretty Little Pony versions, Hush...Mockingbird, etc.--to aid the calming/go to sleep process. (The fave of my youngest was Jean Ritchie's Old Woman All Skin & Bones. Even sound asleep he'd giggle at the BOOO!!) Tw