The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #5907   Message #3701665
Posted By: Joe Offer
14-Apr-15 - 03:11 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Suo Gan
Subject: ADD Version: Suo Gan (English)
This is the English version from the William Cole's Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales ©1961, 1969 by William Cole and Norman Monath. My book was published by Charles Hansen, Inc, by arrangement with Cornerstone Library, Inc. The text (and MIDI) can also be found at the Contemplator Website. Cole says, "this version, now the standard one, was collected by the folk-song scholar Robert Bryan. Note that Cole does not say the English version was written by Bryan, but "Contemplator" appears to jump to the conclusion that the translation was written by Bryan.
Can anybody find documentation of the source of this translation? We'd like to use it in the Rise Again Songbook.

SUO GAN / SLEEP MY BABY

Sleep, my baby, on my bosom,
Warm and cozy, it will prove;
Round thee mother's arms are folding,
In her heart a mother's love.
There shall no one come to harm thee,
Naught shall ever break thy rest;
Sleep, my darling babe, in quiet,
Sleep on mother's gentle breast.

Sleep serenely, baby, slumber,
Lovely baby, gently sleep;
Tell me wherefore art thou smiling,
Smiling sweetly in thy sleep?
Do the angels smile in heaven
When thy happy smile they see?
Dost thou on them smile while slum'bring
On my bosom peacefully.

Cole has attribution in the front of the book for some of the songs, but not this one. So, I'm puzzled.

celticartscenter.com says the English lyrics were written by Welsh poet Robert Bryan (1858-1920), but the Website does not provide documentation.

-Joe-