Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Lighter Date: 16 Feb 14 - 01:03 PM Irish, 12th Century, translated by Kuno Meyer around 1895: THE HOSTS OF FAERY White shields they carry in their hands, With emblems of pale silver; With glittering blue swords, With mighty stout horns, In well-devised battle array, Ahead of their fair chieftain They march amid blue spears, Pale-visaged, curly-headed bands. They scatter the battalions of the foe, They ravage every land they attack, Splendidly they march to combat, A swift, distinguished, avenging host! No wonder though their strength be great: Sons of queens and kings are one and all; On their heads are Beautiful golden-yellow manes. With smooth comely bodies, With bright, blue-starred eyes, With pure crystal teeth, With thin red lips. Good they are at man-slaying, Melodious in the ale-house, Masterly at making songs, Skilled at playing fidchell. "Fidchell" was a game resembling chess. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Eldergirl Date: 16 Feb 14 - 12:32 PM Bearheart, sorry for delay, been off-piste for a day or 2. Lyrics should be in the DT under Brookland Road, I know I found them on there last year, but I have no clicky link i'm afraid, not v good with techie stuff, also unaware of song other than album Hooks and Nets by Woods & Yarwood, early 70s. It might be on YouTube but I haven't looked for it. Frankie Armstrong singing Tam Lin, yet another variant, best version I know so far.. We caught it on a TV show about 20-odd yrs back, on our little portable cassette recorder. And I always liked Steeleye's Thomas the Rhymer. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Bearheart Date: 16 Feb 14 - 01:12 AM Thanks, Joe! Very fond of Kipling... Many good "songs" in Puck of Pook's Hill, a fave of my childhood. Some of my favorite Faery songs: King Orfeo in the DT http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=3415 (sorry, no good at blue clickeys) I don't think anyone mentioned Elf-Call or 700 Elves (Steeleye Span) or Willie's Lady (Ray Fisher did a wonderful rendition of this), I think they are all in the DT. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Joe_F Date: 15 Feb 14 - 06:39 PM Bearheart: I have never heard a tune to "Minepit Shaw". When I want to sing it, I steal the tune from "Queen Eleanor's Confession", which fits pretty well, tho it requires a little textual fiddling. As I have often remarked, many of Kipling's songs were set to music repeatedly in the music-hall era, and probably most of them acquired at least one tune. It would be a great service to the kipler community if someone would dig them up & publish them. However, I have no idea how I would do so, even if I were in England. (He did garner a few tunes in the US. The best-known tune for "Mandalay" turns out to have been composed in Cincinnati, Ohio!) |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Bearheart Date: 15 Feb 14 - 09:48 AM eldergirl do you have a link or lyrics? |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Ged Fox Date: 15 Feb 14 - 09:45 AM "Farewell Rewards and Fairies" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMj7O9LZpU8&feature=c4-overview&list=UU7ftjb29J_Baa2Fzcf7lVag |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: GUEST,eldergirl on another computer Date: 15 Feb 14 - 05:33 AM Brookland Road, surelye? as sung by Ian Woods and Charley Yarwood, tune P.Bellamy. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Bearheart Date: 15 Feb 14 - 12:04 AM Thanks Joe F, though I've not heard that song I could imagine Peter Bellamy singing it. I've never come across it before. Do you have any others to add? |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Joe_F Date: 13 Feb 14 - 10:12 PM Kipling's "Pict Song" can be found here. The Picts are a people, not a class, and the song as a whole is not a celebration of them, but a warning against them. Kipling did write a faery song: The Ballad of Minepit Shaw. It is a sly & skeptical one, tho, full of delicious oxymorons, with a down-to-earth ending. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: Bearheart Date: 13 Feb 14 - 12:12 AM thought I would refresh this thread.... |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: GUEST, Paul Slade Date: 03 Mar 13 - 07:40 AM Ivor Cutler's The Obliging Fairy? Lyrics Sample |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: GUEST,Lavengro Date: 03 Mar 13 - 06:36 AM As the Fairy thing seems to have been extended to cover things pagan and ethereal how about the following- The White Hare- Seth Lakeman Reel in the Flickering Light- As sung by Christy Moore |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: GUEST,MorwenEdhelwen1 Date: 02 Mar 13 - 07:00 PM "Set *to* music by The Tolkien Ensemble". Also, there are millions of other poems by Tolkien which would fit as being "about fairies" or "of Faery". The Song Of Beren and Lúthien, The Song of Nimrodel, Galadriel's Song of Eldamar, O Elbereth Gilthoniel, The Song of Earendil... |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies From: GUEST,MorwenEdhelwen1 Date: 02 Mar 13 - 06:44 PM For those who don't know: Nargothrond and Gondolin= two Elven realms which existed in the First Age of Arda/Middle-earth. |
Subject: Lyr Add: SONG OF DURIN (Tolkien/Reiff/Hall) From: GUEST,MorwenEdhelwen1 Date: 02 Mar 13 - 06:41 PM This is about dwarves, which can be considered a type of fairy: SONG OF DURIN (by J.R.R. Tolkien from The Fellowship of The Ring). Set by music by the Tolkien Ensemble 1. The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone, When Durin woke and woke alone. He named the nameless hills and dells, He drank from yet untasted wells, He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadow of his head. 2. The world was fair, the mountains tall, In Elder Days before the fall Of mighty kings in Nargothrond* And Gondolin*, who now beyond The Western Seas have passed away, The world was fair in Durin's Day. 3. A king he was on carven throne In many-pillared halls of stone With golden roof and silver floor, And runes of power upon the door. The light of sun and star and moon In shining lamps of crystal hewn, Undimmed by cloud or shade of night, There shone for ever fair and bright. 4. There hammer on the anvil smote, There chisel clove, and graver wrote, There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built. There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes' mail, Buckler and corset, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard. 5. Unwearied then were Durin's folk; Beneath the mountains music woke: The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang. 6. The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge's fire is ashen-cold; No harp is wrung, no hammer falls; The darkness dwells in Durin's halls: The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dûm. But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere. There lies his crown in water deep Till Durin wakes again from sleep. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Cluin Date: 12 Jan 03 - 11:56 PM ;) Yeah, here's another near miss, Strupag. "Loch Tay Boat Song". Same author--Harold Bolton. "...and the songs the faerie sing are the songs she sings at milking..." |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Strupag Date: 12 Jan 03 - 07:04 PM The Skye Boat Song. That was about a Ferry but they've built a bridge now |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Bearheart Date: 11 Jan 03 - 08:19 PM Great thread! Have been collecting magical ballads for a long time. That thread on The Twa Magicians also very helpful! Bekki |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Cluin Date: 11 Jan 03 - 08:09 PM Did O'Carolan really pen those lyrics? |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,Julia Date: 11 Jan 03 - 05:49 PM Me- again! What about all the riddle songs= wouldn't the be considered Faery Fare? |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,julia Date: 11 Jan 03 - 04:43 PM Here are some more form my personal list THE MERMAID / OUR GALLANT SHIP REYNARDINE THE GAY GREEN GOWN BERRY DHONE THE GREAT SELCHIE THE DAEMON LOVER MOLLY BAWN FALSE KNIGHT ON THE ROAD ALISON GROSS GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY |
Subject: Lyr Add: SI BHEAG SI MHOR From: GUEST,julia Date: 11 Jan 03 - 03:28 PM Here are lyrics to Si Bheag Si Mhor attributed to Turlough O'Carolan, blind harper circa late 1600's- died in 1735 Supposedly his first song,refers to a local legend about a battle between two fairy hills SI BHEAG SI MHOR 1. Long long ago in this ancient land A battle took place where two hills now stand And on the plain there lay the slain For neither the battle was won. So the bard did sing of these fairy hills Where bloom the white flowers and daffodils One big one small Si Bheag Si Mhor And never the battle is won. 2.Beneath these hills great heroes lie Of the Red Branch Knights and their ancient foe In still of night the immortals fight But never the battle is won. And so the harper was told these fairy tales Of these fairy hills of the ancient Gaels One big one small Si Bheag Si Mhor And never the battle is won. 3.'Twas after the battle the prophet foretold No rest would be found for these warriors bold Till they unite and fight one common foe And then would the battle be won. So then the harper wrote of these fairy hills Where bloom the white flowers and daffodils One big one small Si Bheag Si Mhor And never the battle is won. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Cluin Date: 11 Jan 03 - 03:27 AM The lyrics to Lui Collins' "White Seal Maid" were actually written by Jane Yolen. It was a poem from her book Neptune Rising. Someone showed it to Lui who was caught by them. So she set the words to music and recorded it on her "There's a Light" album. Another one with Faerie elements is called "The Twa Magicians" (covered in this thread). It's similar to the whole Taliesin tale where, in his former incarnation as Gwion Bach, he flees the otherworld sorceress Ceridwen by changing into several different forms. She changes into different pursuing forms as well and catches him... though the aim was quite different in that story than in the song. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 30 May 01 - 01:30 PM Richard Thompson eh? Cool... I've only ever heard Fairport Convention do it... but any song where a raven turns back into a girl is faerie enough in my book... Alison... ummm... lemme look around and see if I have an MP3 of The White Seal Maiden... I may... I don't think I do... Keep in touch and keep bugging me to find it! ;-) |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Noreen Date: 30 May 01 - 12:00 PM ?Banshees are female? This doesn't preclude a girl falling in love with one of course... |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Wavestar Date: 30 May 01 - 11:53 AM Oh, oh! _Banshee_. recorded by The Flash Girls, lyrics by Neil Gaiman. If anyone wants them I'll post them - a very haunting story of a girl who falls in love with a banshee. -J |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Peg Date: 30 May 01 - 11:41 AM Thanks Lynn T for those lyrics and links! I would love to get all the lyrics to this song, have been fascinated by it for years... Peg |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Naemanson Date: 30 May 01 - 08:48 AM Crazy Man Michael was written by Richard Thompson. Not sure if it could be considered faerie. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,Lynn T Date: 30 May 01 - 08:47 AM I can throw some light in: The song with "we are the little folk, we" is Kipling's Pict Song, tune by Bob Esty of Clam Chowder: not faerie at all, but bitter and enduring; the gist is that the peasantry though downtrodden will always outlast the conquering nobility. I can remember a few fragments: "We are the little folk, we, too little to love or to hate, but give us some time and you'll see how we can tear down the state" and "Mistletoe killing an oak, rats gnawing cable in two, (missing line), how they must love what they do." and "You -- you will die of the shame!" But there's a wonderful Ferie song nobody has mentioned yet. Clam Chowder also does Kathy Sobansky's setting of Poul Anderson's "Queen of Air and Darkness" from the short story of the same name; the Ranger Arvid encounters the Queen of the Faeries one evening on his way home to his own lady; when he refuses to go with her, she curses him to hopeless mortality: "Your dull and foolish woman, treat kindly as you can, and live your days in longing, set free to be a man" with the chorus "The dance weaves under the firethorn". Great song, especially in Kathy's clear soprano, backed by harp, bass and hammered dulcimer. While they've done it for years and it's on earlier recordings, it's also included on their latest CD, just released. The Clams have a website; please pardon my ignorance about formatting matters. http://members.aol.com/sirharper/chowder/index.htm Lynn |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Jenny S Date: 30 May 01 - 07:36 AM The words for two more Seal/Silkie songs can be found at: http://bardofavalon.ifrance.com/bardofavalon/Singer/SealSongs.html . J |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: alison Date: 29 May 01 - 11:15 PM clinton.. you got the tune for the selkie one? slainte alison |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Mad Tom Date: 29 May 01 - 10:56 PM THE GOLD RING - I only know of it as an Irish fiddle tune, but I gather it had something to do with a leprechaun trading a tune for a golden ring. That story about THE FAERY'S HORNPIPE sounds like it has the same roots as the CROSSROADS BLUES SHEEBEG AND SHEEMORE or SHI BEG, SHI MOHR- by O'Carolan. Nice air, but ever heard of any lyrics though. THE WEE WEE MAN - It's in the DT. THE BANSHEE and THE LILTING BANSHEE - I forget if they're the same. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 29 May 01 - 08:17 PM Thanks for the info. Presumably that means that they did use the set-dance tune (example Here ); it's a pity that they didn't bother to do the whole thing, though. Mind, the full poem would have been harder to fit to a tune for which it was never intended! I do hope that they credited Allingham, and that the omission was just on the part of whoever transcribed it from their record. Malcolm |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Hollowfox Date: 29 May 01 - 06:20 PM Well, Malcolm, the Irish Rovers was a Canadian band as I recall, out of Calgary, I think, but I think they were all emegree's from Ireland. The tune they used was the only one I've ever heard named King of the Fairies, and played by many performers. Since I can't hum the tune in a posting, and I can't read music, I'll just have to check my recordings at home tonight and post some examples so we have some common point of reference. (Whaddaya mean, librarians are obsessive?)*g* |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 29 May 01 - 04:01 PM The title is The Fairies. In the DT: King of the Faeries An incomplete text with the wrong title, wrongly described as "traditional", and the well-known author uncredited. In the Forum (amongst quite a few discussions): Lyr Req: King Of The Faeries In this thread I posted the full text of William Allingham's poem. Bits of it are regularly posted here, so it seemed sensible to get it out of the way, and to correct the fanciful spelling; Allingham used the usual "fairies". A band called "The Irish Rovers" (from which I assume they were American) set it to music years ago, but nobody, so far as I can remember, has ever told us what tune they used. Some have assumed, from the new title they gave it, that it was the set-dance King of the Fairies, but there seems to be some doubt. Does anybody actually remember? |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Mrrzy Date: 29 May 01 - 01:53 PM Correct refrain: Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen We daren't go a-hunting for fear of little men Wee folk, good folk, trouping all together green jacket, red cap, and white owl's feather. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Mrrzy Date: 29 May 01 - 01:52 PM Tull *is* folk, to me! Has anyone put Up The Airy Mountain to music? I don't know the author, but here is as much of the peom as I recall:>p>Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen They stole little Bridget for seven years long Up the airy mountain... Sigh, such a sad, sad poem, but then, that's the Little Poeple for you. |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BALLAD OF THE WHITE SEAL MAID From: Clinton Hammond Date: 29 May 01 - 01:38 PM it's called "The Ballad of the White Seal Maid", and it's on her CD There's A Light... check out luicollins.com for more... THE BALLAD OF THE WHITE SEAL MAID
There's a fisherman sitting alone on the land |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 29 May 01 - 01:32 PM Oh oh oh!!! I just though of another.... t'was Hfox's post above reminded me... Lui Collins does a great A capella song, "The Fisherman and the Selkie"... or maybe it's called the "Sealmaid"... I'll check her web page to find out! But it's BRILLIANT! And well, with a voice like Lui's, how can ya go wrong eh?!?!?!?!?! ;-) |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Hollowfox Date: 29 May 01 - 01:17 PM Peg, "We are the Little Folk" is a musical setting for Rudyard Kipling's "The Picts' Song" (in the book Rewards and Fairies, a book I recommend to anybody interested in this thread). The tune may be by Peter Bellamy, bit I can't check that until I get home from work. Amergin, a good few of Meg Davis's songs on the subject can be found on "Captain Jack and the Mermaid". Again, I can post recording label info, etc, tomorrow, if you like. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 28 May 01 - 05:56 PM That's where I get ALL my tull lyrics from.. Cup Of Wonder... Umm... let's see...
The Tull version of John Barleycorn is on A Little Light Music Peg's article is here if you want that sort of stuff as well... Then when you're done with Tull, continue on to check out Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and a few of the other progressive folk rock bands... plenty of them have 'otherworldly' inspirations... ;-) |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Peg Date: 28 May 01 - 05:30 PM well thanks for those Tull songs Clinton. Most of the best songs along these lines are contained within Songs From the Wood, Heavy Horses, and Stormwatch...soem of the later albums have environmental themes as well... I actually wrote an article on this at www.cupofwonder.com "Love From the Fields: The Pagan Imagery of Britain in the Songs of Ian Anderson"
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: RichM Date: 28 May 01 - 05:04 PM hmm...I was never a Jethro Tull fan...not because I disliked the music, but I was a *folkie* then-don'tchaknow-but I am interested in fairy-inspired music... any particulars about what albums, cd's I can hear these? Rich |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: CamiSu Date: 28 May 01 - 04:38 PM Great songs, Clinton! I especially like the Jack-in-the-Green one. Thanks. -J |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Jenny S Date: 28 May 01 - 02:10 PM There's a lot of info about songs of faery in the book "Folklore in the English and Scottish Ballads - Ghosts, Magic, Witches, Fairies, the Otherworld" by Lowry Charles Wimberly. Published by Dover 486-21388-9. Jenny |
Subject: Lyr Add: DUN RINGILL From: Clinton Hammond Date: 28 May 01 - 01:08 PM this is a song aobut a faerie place if not the folk themselves
DUN RINGILL
Clear light on a slick palm |
Subject: Lyr Add: KELPIE^^ From: Clinton Hammond Date: 28 May 01 - 01:03 PM Another Tull song...
KELPIE |
Subject: Lyr Add: MAYHEM, MAYBE^^ From: Clinton Hammond Date: 28 May 01 - 01:02 PM Or this one... MAYHEM, MAYBE
When we're working nights, the village round |
Subject: Lyr Add: JACK-IN-THE-GREEN From: Clinton Hammond Date: 28 May 01 - 12:50 PM A lot of faerie tales tend toward the personification of nature, so maybe John Barleycorn could fit as well eh? Theres alsot some really good folkie kinda progressive rock songs from Jethro Tull that are faerie inspired...
JACK-IN-THE-GREEN
Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green? |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Peg Date: 28 May 01 - 12:16 AM I don't think the Lady of Shallott was a fairy; but a mortal woman under a curse... She is also mythically similar to Morgan le Fay, though, in her devotion to Lancelot...so the theme is kind of there...
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,Brían Date: 28 May 01 - 12:07 AM Seothín Seo hó in Amhráin Mhuighe Seola talks about faeries. i could post the song with its translation later, when I have time. Also Úr-Chill An Chreagán found in the book, An Duanaire. There's also a stange song in Sean O Boyle's book The Irish Song Tradition called Maighre An Chúl Órbhuí I could post any of them later if anyone is interested. Brían |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: CamiSu Date: 27 May 01 - 10:13 PM lways thought that "Ride On" had a very fay feel - the disappearing lover seemed otherworldly, at least. Loreena McKennit does another one on The Visit album, _The Old Ways_ seems to be referring to another otherworldly lover. And it's always unclear whether the Lady of Shalott was a faery or not... and Tennyson is dead. I'll think of more. -J (Stealing her mother's account)
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 27 May 01 - 09:49 PM I agree guest! ;-) Did I mention Crazy Man Michael by Fairport Convention yet? What a great faerie song! There's another one that I got from the SCA a bunch of years ago, from a bard who's name is unfortunatly lost in the mist of time... Called "The Axe Of Tarbainwield" or something like that.. about a knight who's on his way to a tourney, and meets the spirit if an elf, recently slain by a black knight and she asks him to avenge her... Cool song but it's about 20-25 minutes long! ;-) |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,disappointed Date: 27 May 01 - 09:07 PM And they say the Cat ain't sick? Here is a thread which has been going along nicely for four years and now the most recent revival has had to move to a new thread to escape the nastiness? I would have to say that Clinton tried to call it off but to no avail. That doesn't mean he's blameless. How about my post being the last off topic in that direction? Or is that too much to ask? It is too good a thread to drop down the toilet hole. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Peg Date: 27 May 01 - 05:41 PM Clinton: *YOU* FUCK OFF. I am sick and tired of you trying to cover up your bigotry with your idiotic "Canadian-style" rehtoric "It's only a joke, eh?") Gosh, bet you don't like me making fun of you being a stupid Canadian, eh? Eh? Eh? They are not jokes. They are thinly-veiled expressions of hatred and I am sick of seeing them. Go do your fag-bashing elsewhere on the net (I'm sure you can find a place), and leave Mudcat alone, if you please.
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Amergin Date: 27 May 01 - 02:58 PM Meg Davis has done a song or two...though I can't recall what they were.... |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 27 May 01 - 02:34 PM Please folks... don't let this petty bickering kill an otherwise good thread eh... ;-) |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 27 May 01 - 01:57 PM Peg... Fuck off... It's a joke for fecks sake...
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Peg Date: 27 May 01 - 01:55 PM Christ, Clinton, can't you keep the gay-bashing out of ANY thread??? It is not enough for you to contribute musical information, you have to jump in with the insults? (sigh) I now await your comment about how all your closest friends are "faggots" and how you only do this for your own personal amusement. Are you aware some gay people post on Mudcat who might be offended by your crap? Why don't you have a few more drinks, and go download some more porn so you can feel all macho about yourself? Asshole.
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Clinton Hammond Date: 27 May 01 - 01:29 PM Steeleye Span did a few others that I'm kinda surprised folks here haven't mentioned yet... King Henry for one... There's a Fairport Convention song called Crazy Man Michael that's faerie enough... I'd call "Y.M.C.A." or "In The Navy" fairy songs! LOL!! Ummm... Stan Roger's song "Giant" is about the legendary Fingol kinda... that's faerie... There are others hiding behind the Guinness addled parts of my brain... as they scurry out, I'll nail 'em down and post 'em back here! :-) |
Subject: link: Fairy Boy From: Noreen Date: 27 May 01 - 06:54 AM See this thread: Lyr Req: Fairy boy for an Irish song about a 'changeling': when a healthy baby became ill it was believed to have been replaced by a sickly fairy child. I find this song very moving. Noreen |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Mike Byers Date: 27 May 01 - 06:09 AM It's not a song as such, as there are no words (that I know of), but "The Fairy Revels" is a beautiful air; one of my favorites. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST Date: 27 May 01 - 01:15 AM The song about the wolf/girl is not Mackinna's but another of Mercedes Lackey and sung by a woman named Fish. Now Jean Redpath sung an Austrailian song about a dingo/girl and the jerk of a man who marries her and she lures him out into the woods and kills him. I recorded off of "Praire Home Companion" broadcast so I don't know where to look for it in her albums. kahty |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Peg Date: 26 May 01 - 01:05 AM great thread! There is one out there in the pagan community; not sure of the title. Contains the words "We are the little folk, we..." Also:
The Knight of the Rose by Eliza Carthy?? I think There is a band called In Gowan Ring that does a lot of songs abouy faery...also The Moors, Stone Breath, Dreamchild...some of these are local bands... Peg
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Mudlark Date: 26 May 01 - 12:06 AM thanks, Philippa....I should have known! My grandmother was French, but orphaned as a young girl and sent to Chicago to live with an evil witch of an aunt, As soon as she could she ran away from the aunt and ended up living with a large and varied Irish family, the Walshes. Grandmother Walsh had seen the little people many, many times in the old country, and spoke of them often and with great conviction...a conviction that transfered itself to my grandmother, and from her to me. Not bad luck to see them, but apparently very bad luck to BE seen by them, spying on them....best to hide in the ditch with the faery lights come dancing down the road.... Mudlark |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Gypsy Date: 25 May 01 - 10:40 PM The witch of the West Moorlands, by Archie Fisher! |
Subject: Lyr Add: ANNE JEFFRIES From: Hawker Date: 25 May 01 - 08:32 PM Lisa, There is a story documented in the Bodleian Library about one Anne Jeffries from a small village Called St Teath near Bodmin in Cornwall. Not really read the new bod's guide to how to do it all on Mudcat, so can't do blue clicky thing but try http://www.gandolf.com/cornwall I found some things about her there. I wrote a song about her which may be of interest to you: In the village of St Teath eight miles North of Bodmin An apprentice named Anne Jefferies joined the home of Moses Pitt She was bold she was brave she worked harder than the young men Till at the age of nineteen years when poor Annie lost her wits CHORUS: In a stranger's home, the poor girl's piskie laden She's dancing in the arbour with the small men clad in green Nearly lost her mind, the poor girl's piskie laden And though a prisoner in the jail, she lived there like a queen. Mrs Pitt, one day, well she ran out of flour Halfway through the baking of a dozen loaves of bread On her way back from the mill, she tripped and hurt her ankle Was it by an accident or was it piskie led? When Anne heard the tale of Pitt's mother's damaged ankle She named for her the place where the incident occurred And before the surgeon came to tend the weeping wounded Anne mended her and healed the wound and all the pain she cured Anne then told the tale of when sitting in the arbour Six merry little fellows clad in green all did appear Always came in twos and never sought to harm her And taught her how to cure the sick buy whispering in her ear. With fine fairy food they fed her and sustained her From Harvest through to Christmas by the fairies she was fed Her power of sight was amazing, 'twas second to no other She could tell you where you'd been, with whom - and exactly what was said When the preacher heard the tale of Annie Jefferies Said that she worked for the devil, and to Bodmin should be sent To reside in the jail with the criminals and low life And the faeries said 'now don't resist' and along with her they went When her trial it came, the Pitt family stood as witness To the power of this maiden and her Piskie Laden ways But no sentence was passed, and she went to live in Padstow Where she married William Warren and with him saw out her days Hope that is of use to you, sorry, don't know how to give you the tune! PM me if you would like it! When we go to the Isle of man, there is a place there called the Fairy Bridge. It is essential that you say hello to the fairies when you pass over it or you will have no luck! Regards, Lucy |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,Philippa Date: 25 May 01 - 07:52 PM Mudlark - that's a Yeats poem, THE HOST OF THE AIR |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Mudlark Date: 25 May 01 - 07:40 PM And then there's that great faery story that ends up "...and never was piping so sad, and never was piping so gay." I've got it on an ancient Clancy Bros record...and it still gives me goosebumps. Mudlark |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: GUEST,Philippa Date: 25 May 01 - 05:47 PM see my message and lyrics of 29 May 99 I wonder if One Hump or Two on an album of Mary Ann Kennedy and Charlotte Peterson is a version of this story/song? I just found the track list while 'surfing'. Mary Ann Kennedy is a Gaelic speaker and I'm familiar with her singing. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Philippa Date: 30 May 99 - 05:55 AM and you're going to give us the words, Alice... |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Alice Date: 29 May 99 - 08:32 PM There is another song called "The Fairy Tree" recorded by Mary O'Hara (will Alice ever stop referring to Mary O'Hara?) and is available on the CD called A Song For Ireland. It begins "All night around the Thorn Tree, the little people play, and men and women passing, turn their heads away.... it describes it as a hanging tree, etc, but 'Katy Ryan' dreamt she saw the Son of Mary, and he asked "Why should they be afraid, when from a branch of thorn tree the crown I wore was made?"
Another 'fairy' song I like is The Shortcut Through The Rosses. I sing an English version of Monday, Tuesday, that I wrote because the tune is so beautiful and the story so great. alice
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Cat a Tonic (inactive) Date: 29 May 99 - 06:51 PM Loved the songs/poems and recorded recommendations. Being a long time Faery/Fairy enthusiast, I alway appreciate new stuff. I would like to donate the following:all from Herb Companion Apr/May/93 Fairy or Faerie? The etymology of the term "fairy" is long, complex and ambiguous. Most sources agree, however, that faerie originally referred to the place where fairies dwelt ("fay" + "aerie"), rather than to the creatures themselves. Fairies They range in height from a mere half-inch to 6 feet or more, and in color, from gray to green to pearly white. Their temperament may be sweet or sly or surly; some are said to have the intelligence of an insect, others, the wisdom of the ages. They have caused delight or consternation in almost every culture from earliest recorded time. But a recurring common trait of these slippery folk is their special relationship with plants. Entire books have been written about fairies: about the origins of the concept, the folktales that describe their habits and deeds, their clans and tribes and individual names, their relation to reality. We'll home in here on a few fairy facts of special interest to herb lovers. Keep them in mind as the summer solstice approaches - who knows what's to be seen "on a bank where the wild thyme grows"? If you want to make us faeries dance Make us sing and make us prance Plant some thyme, we'll come around Enchant the air, enchant the ground. (m.e. johnson) Fairy Herbs Fairies have been thought to cause annoying maladies such as stitches, itches, sneezes and cramps. St John's wort is the chief protective herb against such ills. Other herbs in the powerful pantheon of seven fairy herbs are: vervain, speedwell, eyebright, mallow, yarrow and self-heal These are said to be best gathered at noon on a bright day, near the time of a full moon. Foxgloves or folk's gloves, are often reputed to be fairy plants; the juice of ten foxgloves, according to Irish legent, will cure a fair-struck child Four leaf clovers will break fairy spells Mugwort has been called a magical fairy herb; running footmen once put it in their shoes so they might run all day without tiring. |
Subject: Lyr Add: LEGEND OF KNOCKGRAFTON From: Philippa Date: 29 May 99 - 09:19 AM re Lisa's story of 6 March 1997, Nikki Ragsdale gave me the words to the song, which has been recorded by Mary O'Hara. Many versions of the story have been collected in Ireland and in Scotland, and often the story teller sings a chorus (Dia Luain, Dia Mairt...)(Monday, Tuesday: Dia Luain is the same as Dé Luain, etc). I have no idea how old the song is, but suspect that it is relatively recent and based on the older story. Bhí Donall bocht cam agus dronn ar a dhroim Ag gabháil tríd an ngleann ins an oíche Nuair a chuala sé ceol ba chaoineadh ag na sióg Ag teacht aige ar learg na gaoithe Dia Luain, Dia Máirt, Dia Luain, Dia Máirt ... Do stad sé agus d'éist go ciúin le gach séis 'S i ngéibheann ar glaoch binn is bhuaigh sé Ach a chroí istigh go breoigh mar do theip ar an gceoil 'S níor cuireadh críoch cóir leis an líne Dia Luain, Dia Máirt, Dia Luain, Dia Máirt ... Ná ghlac Donall cam agus dronn ar a dhroim A mhisneach, agus chan go deas séideán Dia Luain, Dia Máirt, Dia Luain, Dia Máirt ... is Dia Céadaoin! Dia Luain, Dia Máirt, Dia Luain, Dia Máirt ... is Dia Céadaoin! Nuair a chuala an slua sí an críoch gheal míor bhinn Nach orthu a bhíodh rí-rá agus áthas Do bhain siad an dronn de Dhonall bocht cam Agus d'imigh siad abhaile gan meacan Dia Luain, Dia Máirt, Dia Luain, Dia Máirt ... is Dia Céadaoin I haven't taken the time to put in HTML codes. a = a/, é = e/, í = i/, ó = o/, ú = u/
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Moira Cameron, moirakc@internorth.com Date: 08 Mar 97 - 04:55 AM Sure, here goes: Once, in a small town in Scotland, there lived a young lad who dearly loved the bagpipes. He desperately wanted to be able to play all the hornpipes and reels, like other bagpipe players he admired. He wanted to be able to share his love of the music with other people, and see their faces light up with joy at the sound of the tunes. But when he tried to play the pipes himself, the only sounds he could produce were screeching noises. Day after day he practiced; hour upon hour. And yet he never improved. Soon, the townsfolk had had enough. The boy sounded as if he were murdering the pipes rather than playing them. So the gave him an ultimatum: either move away from the town, or cease playing the pipes altogether. The boy was heart-broken. All he wanted was to make people happy with his music, but he was doing just the opposite. So he took his pipes and went for a walk. He needed to make a decision. He walked a short ways out of town, found a large rock to sit on, and tried to think. He wasn't there long, when he was suddenly aware he was no longer alone. Beside him stood a wee man--one of the wee folk, to be sure. "I understand you have a bit of a dilemma." The wee man said. "Well, I am willing to give you a gift, but it will have a condition. I will teach you a tune for your pipes. You will be able to play it, however here you have to make a choice. You see, it is a magic tune, a Faery tune. The tune can be played so that it will sound lovely and charming to you, but not to anyone who hears you play it; or, it will sound awful to you, but lovely to all who hear it. Which will it be?" Well, it was not an easy choice. The boy didn't like the idea that what he played would sound awful to his own ears. However, then he imagined those happy faces of people dancing to hid pipe playing. He believed that would give him far more satisfaction. And so the faery taught him the tune. When he played it, he thought it sounded too dreadful to bear. But he continued playing it as he made his way back into town. On the streets of the town, the people could hear this wonderful music in the distance. As the sound came closer, everyone was surprised to see it was the bow, on his bagpipes, playing the lovely tune. The boy, in turn, saw the glowing, happy faces as people began to dance. He felt such immense joy at this sight. From then on the tune was called The Faery's Hornpipe in honour of the faery who gave it as a gift to us. ----------- I'm afraid I don't have a written source for the story. I learned it from a tin whistle player in Sudbury, Ontario, called Tom Ryan. He told the story, followed by the tune, at a Ceilidh there. I've never seen the story anywhere. I play the tune on a recorder. If you want to find it, it's available on-line on the Tuneweb Webpage: http://itpubs.ucdavis.edu/richard/music/tuneweb/ Hope you enjoy it!
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Lisa Date: 06 Mar 97 - 01:22 PM This is Lisa again. In response to Moira, I would like to indicate two stories I'm aware of that have a faery song attached to them. The first is the much printed "Legend of Knockgrafton" in which a good-natured hunchback named Lusmore hears a faery song which has the refrain "Monday, Tuesday". At first he is enchanted, but then he grows tired of the repetition. So he waits politely for the end of the song, and adds his own twist to the tune, along with the lyric "Wednesday". The faeries whisk him off to their castle, praise him for his musical skill, and reward him by removing his hump. When an ill-natured hunchback tries Lusmore's trick, interrupting the faeries' song with his squawking, they punish him for his transgression by adding Lusmore's hump to his own. I actually have some bars of music to go with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, found in a book called "The Song Lore of Ireland" by Redfern Mason. The second story is a "cinder boy" one, where a younger brother is forced to stay home and do chores while his two older brothers go to gatherings to play their fiddles. A wee man shows up, and tells the lad to open the locked cottage door with his finger, since his brothers have taken the key. To his surprise, the door opens, and inside he finds a new fiddle waiting for him. Though he's never played before, the minute he picks up the fiddle a tune of unsurpassing beauty comes to him, which he calls "Finger Lock", and with which he wins the next fiddle competition, to the shame of his cruel brothers. My friend (a bagpiper) informs me there is a pipe tune with this title. Do any of you play it? Hope these stories have been of interest. Moira, could you post your story to go with "the Faery Hornpipe"? I had trouble e-mailing you. Perhaps others would like to hear of it too. Lisa. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Moira Cameron, moirakc@internorth.com Date: 03 Mar 97 - 01:54 AM My favourites are Tamlin and the Wee Wee Man. Both are in the Database. Also, I know a really nice short folktale that goes together with a tune called the Faerie's Hornpipe. If you're interested, write to me and I'll send you the story. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Jerry Friedman Date: 26 Feb 97 - 06:40 PM I should know better than to put WWW addresses in angle brackets. The Faery Lore site is http://faeryland.etsu.edu/~earendil/faerie/index.html . It says it will move after "a few more months". It has a clip from Loreena McKennit's recording of "Stolen Child". The Yeats sites are at http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/yeats/Index_html and http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5379/yeats_index.html |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE FAERIES DANCE^^ From: Jerry Friedman, jfriedman@nnm.cc.nm.us Date: 26 Feb 97 - 06:23 PM People who are reading this thread might like the following Web site: One song that isn't on it and that I couldn't find on the Web is by Yeats, from his play The Land of Heart's Desire. Here's how it appears in Modern British Poetry, edited by Louis Untermeyer.
The wind blows out of the gates of the day,
Speaking of Yeats, you can find his collected poetry (from the poetry books but not the plays) at
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Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: belter Date: 26 Feb 97 - 08:41 AM It is a diferent artist after all, and I feel like I've made a fool of myself. I'm so ashamed. Any way the song I was talking about is Mercedies Lackey on "Freedom Flight and Fantisy" The title might be Alexy, wich is the name of the male character that I couldn't remember befor. Her albums are available through firebird Music, and they have a web page if you want to check them out. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: belter Date: 25 Feb 97 - 03:01 PM I'll check my sorce. If my memory isn't playing tricks it would be on parallel dreams. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Lisa Date: 25 Feb 97 - 01:24 PM To Everyone: Thanks so much for your suggestions. I'm keeping a file of them. I must ask "belter" though, or anyone else who may know, what is this Loreena McKennitt song about a lady who turns into a wolf? I have all her recordings, but am not aware of this song. Did you hear it at a concert of hers perhaps? Or maybe it's actually by another artist. Can anyone help? Thanks again, Lisa |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Susan of DT Date: 18 Feb 97 - 07:18 PM the word fairy got 29 hits in the digital tradition, few of which are really about fairies, but look up 'Tam Lin' and 'Thomas the Rhymer' which certainly are. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: belter Date: 18 Feb 97 - 12:30 PM Another Loreena McKennit song you may want to check out is one about a man who falls in love with a fairy woman who is cursed to be a wolf if she kills a human and then does so defending him. I can/t rememer the name. Also one that might not me what you want since it's more of a filk, but Mercedies Lackey has a song called "Of Cabbages" about a cabage farmer who sees a group of fairs dancing and singing. One of them has a silver rose in his hair and the farmer laments that, althought his cabages have there own virtue, he would like to go a silver rose just once. He is clearly a farmer to the bone . |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE FAIRY REEL (from John Watt) From: Bobby O'Brien Date: 18 Feb 97 - 08:49 AM My favourite song about the little folk is called "THE FAIRY REEL" written and recorded by John Watt, Ireland's Singing Farmer, about 20 years ago. The lyrics are: Last night I dreamed that I went strollin' down the fairy glen I dreamed I saw the little folk in Ireland once again I watched them have a ceili around the fairy tree A hundred thousand welcomes the fairies gave to me. CHORUS: Come and see the fairies round the fairy tree It is the finest spectacle that eyes could ever see You'll see them dance so merrily, they bounce from toe to heel Come and see the fairies, dance the fairy reel. They wore shoes of golden leather, cloaks of emerald green Upon their little heads they wore are a scarlet red cobeen They wore rings of sparkling diamonds, bangles oh so grand What a wealth of treasure they must have in fairy land. The king was dancing with the queen, the princess with the prince And all the other fairies joined in an Irish dance The music played so sweetly as the moonlit shone They danced and played together this bunch of leprechauns When I awoke I lay and thought of all that I had seen And all those little leprechauns dancing in my dreams That's why the Irish people sing and dance and joke They take a good example from the little fairy folk. Available on Cassette called "John Watt-Ireland's Singing Farmer" (Homespun Records cat# HRL-127) by calling Outlet Records in Belfast. Tel # 011-44-1232-322826. Also recorded by Theresa Duffy on the same label. |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: Martin Ryan Date: 18 Feb 97 - 04:31 AM Loreena McKennit did a lovely setting of Yeates' poem "The Stolen Child" which describes the luring away of a child to the fairy world. I'm rarely keen on trying to convert art-poems into folk song (no! I'm not trying to start a row!) - but this one works beautifully. Several good traditional singers in Ireland now using it regularly. Should be easy to find on one of her CD's. More later? Regards |
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery From: catfeet@ici.net Date: 17 Feb 97 - 09:09 PM Try King of the Faeries. It's in the database if you search king & faerie. The Irish Rovers did 2 verses of it on one of their albums, but for the life of me I can't quite remember which. Catfeet |
Subject: Lyr Add: LIAS LADDIE^^^ From: Joan MacDonald Date: 17 Feb 97 - 12:37 PM From Ceoltoiri's Silver Apples of The Moon CD: A song called "Lias Laddie" - In Celtic lore, the fairie people populated their underworld by stealing infants from mortal parents. But a child born with a lias, a particular type of birthmark, was considered safe from fairie schemes. This lullaby is the lament of a faerie queen for a lias child she cannot keep. (Words by Richard Gary, music by Sue Richards) My darling wee worldling, wert thou my ain jewel, Thy bed were not bracken, thy cover no plaidie, Thy cot not a hut at the foot of Glen Trool, And thou not another ain's sweet lias laddie. List little luggie (ear) as I croon ye hooly, Wi' a cloud for a pillow, I'd cradle ye doon. Wi' cannel (candle) stars blinkin', in sleep ye'd be sinkin', While floating a-dream twixt the horns of the moon. Couldst thou be my lammie, my dear lias laddie, Thy heart would ne'er suffer the maist (most) o' life's stoure (strife). Wi' a Queen for thy mammie and a King for thy daddie, And thou Prince of Faerie to live evermore. But waefu' (woeful) and doolie (sadly) do I whisper to ye, For I ken'd (knew) at ye're Kimm'rin (birthing) ye'd ne're be my ain. Twas the lias that doomed me, my heart brak and soumed (flooded) me For the dear lias laddie and the wan chancey sain (unlucky blessing HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 25-Jan-2001. |
Subject: Songs of Faery From: Lisa Cote Date: 17 Feb 97 - 12:04 PM Hello All, One of my (numerous) strange little fetishes is the collection of obscure celtic songs, and in particular those that have something to do with the folklore of "the good people": the supernatural entities called fairies or faeries. I would appreciate any help in this effort, whether it be info. on written reference material, recordings, music and/or lyrics to particular songs, reports of faery encounters (!) or whatever. Thanks a lot, and remember to leave out a bowl of cream tonight for your resident brownie! Sincerely, Lisa e-mail: fosterst@nbnet.nb.ca |
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