It doesn't ring any great bells with me, I'm afraid, but that won't stop me from a long and boring posting!It doesn't seem to be Ushag Veg Ruy (Little russet bird) or Arrane y Lhondoo (Song of the Blackbird). I think GUEST, Torquil may be right about Arrane ny Sheeaghyn Troailtagh. This was the version from Mona Douglas:
1. V'ad oie ayns y Ghlion dy Ballacomish,
Jannoo yn lhondoo aynshen e hedd.Chorus (at the end of verses 1, 2 and 3):
Chaddil oo lhiannoo, hig sheeaghyn troailtagh orrin!
Bee dty host nish, ta mee geamagh er'n ushag.2. V'ad oie ayns Glion Rushen dy reagh ny sleityn,
Jannoo y shirragh aynshen e hedd.3. V'ad oie er ny creggyn Kione y Spaainagh,
Jannoo yn foillan aynshen e hedd.4. Hig ad gys Gordon, agh aynshen, cooie,
Jannoo yn dreean veg e hedd.
Chaddil oo lhiannoo, ny gow jee aggle ad hene.
Bee dty host nish, ta mee geamagh er'n ushag.I would have to say that the above words contain grammatical 'idiosyncrasies' that I would typically associate with Mona. In literal translation:
1. They were a night in the glen of Ballacomish,
There the blackbird makes her nest.Chorus (after verses 1, 2 and 3):
Sleep thou, baby, the travelling 'fairy folk' will come to us!
Be quiet now, I'm calling the birdie.2. They were a night in Glen Rushen to clear the mountains,
There the hawk makes her nest.3. They were a night in the rocks of Spanish Head,
There the seagull makes her nest.4. They'll come to Gordon, but there, naturally,
The wren will make no nest.
Sleep thou, baby, don't be afraid of Themselves.
Be quiet now, I'm calling the birdie.Ballacomish, Glen Rushen, Spanish Head and Gordon are all place names in Mann.
In 'Mona Douglas / A Tribute' compiled by Fenella Crowe Bazin, we find this (p. 21):
"She [Mona] had also been in correspondence with Miss A G Gilchrist of Lancaster, who had published three major articles in the EFDS [English Folk Dance Society] Journals of 1924-26. A letter dated March 14th, 1925 confirms that Mona had contributed som of the songs, albeit in some cases anonymously. Perhaps a glimmer of the reason for that appears in another letter, this time from W Walter Gill who, writing to Mona, notes that 'As I have filled out the 'Scotch tune', the temporary words I had made for it no longer fit, so you can have them'.
In the glen of Ballacomish
Where those little birdies sing,
There they found a lullaby with local colour
For the Folksong Journal in the Spring.In the house of William Cubbon,
Where those cradles used to swing,
There they faked a folksong for a little hoax on
Miss Gilchrist's Manx number in the spring.This is the Mudcat midi text of it (if you can send out what you have in this format, we could take a listen and see what it is) -
MIDI file: sheetro.mid
Timebase: 96
TimeSig: 3/4 24 8
Key: D
Tempo: 120 (500000 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 66 080 0096 0 66 000 0000 1 67 080 0096 0 67 000 0000 1 69 080 0096 0 69 000 0000 1 71 080 0096 0 71 000 0000 1 72 080 0096 0 72 000 0000 1 74 080 0096 0 74 000 0000 1 76 080 0096 0 76 000 0000 1 76 080 0096 0 76 000 0000 1 69 080 0096 0 69 000 0000 1 71 080 0096 0 71 000 0000 1 62 080 0192 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 59 080 0096 0 59 000 0000 1 62 080 0192 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0288 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 66 080 0096 0 66 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 71 080 0096 0 71 000 0000 1 71 080 0096 0 71 000 0000 1 72 080 0096 0 72 000 0000 1 71 080 0096 0 71 000 0000 1 67 080 0096 0 67 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 62 080 0288 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 66 080 0096 0 66 000 0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 62 080 0096 0 62 000 0000 1 64 080 0192 0 64 000 0000 1 64 080 0048 0 64 000 0000 1 64 080 0048 0 64 000 0000 1 66 080 0048 0 66 000 0000 1 66 080 0240 0 66 000
End
This program is worth the effort of learning it.
To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here
ABC format:
X:1
T:
M:3/4
Q:1/4=120
K:D
D2E2F2|G2A2B2|=c2d2e2|e2A2B2|D4D2|E2D2B,2|
D4D2|D6|D2E2F2|E2D2D2|B2B2=c2|B2G2E2|D6|D2E2F2|
E2D2D2|E4EE|FF5||