Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies

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: [e-mail]

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: RE: Songs of Faery
From:
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: 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: 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 # [phone]. Also recorded by Theresa Duffy on the same label.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Lyr Add: THE FAERIES DANCE^^
From:
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,
The wind blows over the lonely of heart,
And the lonely of heart is withered away,
While the faeries dance in a place apart,
Shaking their milk-white feet in a ring,
Tossing their milk-white arms in the air:
For they hear the wind laugh, and murmur and sing
Of a land where even the old are fair,
And even the wise are merry of tongue;
But I heard a reed of Coolaney say,
"When the wind has laughed and murmured and sung,
The lonely of heart is withered away!"

Speaking of Yeats, you can find his collected poetry (from the poetry books but not the plays) at and , among other places. The noble maintainers of the DT might want to look there for the correct texts of "The Song of Wandering Aengus" and "And Old Song Resung" (="Sally Gardens"), or at least provide links in case people want to see the poems as Yeats wrote them as well as the way people have sung them. Or I could e-mail the poems if you want.

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: RE: Songs of Faery
From:
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: 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:
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!

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/

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: 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

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: 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: 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 - 07:52 PM

Mudlark - that's a Yeats poem, THE HOST OF THE AIR

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: Gypsy
Date: 25 May 01 - 10:40 PM

The witch of the West Moorlands, by Archie Fisher!

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: 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
Tir na Nog by Tir na Nog

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

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: 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: 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: 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: 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.

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...

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: 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: 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.

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: 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: 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)

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: 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...

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?
With his long tail hanging down.
He quietly sits under every tree
in the folds of his velvet gown.
He drinks from the empty acorn cup
the dew that dawn sweetly bestows.
And taps his cane upon the ground
signals the snowdrops it's time to grow.

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green
no place to dance, no time for song.
He wears the colours of the summer soldier
carries the green flag all the winter long.

Jack, do you never sleep
does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times,
motorways, powerlines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.

The rowan, the oak and the holly tree
are the charges left for you to groom.
Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green.
Oh Jack, please help me through my winter's night.
And we are the berries on the holly tree.
Oh, the mistlethrush is coming.
Jack, put out the light.

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
the old church becomes scary town.
All curtained windows and bolted doors
but never a eye to see
as us fairy folks sweep from the hill.
Never caught us and never will.
Pulling roses and daffodils
mayhem in the high degree.

The blacksmith chased us all to ground.
They searched all night we were never found.
The tinker boys and the sheriff's men
shaking the tallest tree.
And we sat and watched the women hide.
Laughed so much we split our sides.
Scattered horses that they would ride
mayhem in the high degree.

We crossed through fields of midnight green
often heard but seldom seen.
Tore along hedges,stripping leaves
no-one could quite agree
whether we came from north or south.
We stole the screams from out their mouths
and go where no man would allow
mayhem in the high degree.

Like scaly carp and feathered swan
to nature's world we do belong.
We ride the thin winds of the night
and set dark spirits free.
We terrify the mare and foal.
The fox stood still and far too bold.
So we strung him up, brush neatly folded;
mayhem, maybe.

Subject: Lyr Add: KELPIE^^
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 28 May 01 - 01:03 PM

Another Tull song...

KELPIE

There was a warm wind with the high tide on the south of the hill.
When a young girl went a-walking and I followed with a will.
"Good day to you, my fine young lady, with your lips so sweetly full.
May I help you comb your long hair, sweep it from that brow so cool?''
Up, ride with the kelpie.
I'll steal your soul to the deep.
If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
I'll ride with somebody else.

Well I'm a man when I'm feeling the urge to step ashore.
So I may charm you not alarm you. Tell you all fine things, and more.
Up, ride with the kelpie.
I'll steal your soul to the deep.
If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
I'll ride with somebody else.

Say goodbye to all your dear kin for they hate to see you go
in your young prime, to this place of mine in the still loch far below.
Up, ride with the kelpie.
I'll steal your soul to the deep.
If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
I'll ride with somebody else.

Up, ride with the kelpie.
I'll steal your soul to the deep.
If you don't ride with me while the devil's free
I'll ride with somebody else.

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
as I mis-deal the day
Slip the night from a shaved pack
make a marked card play
Call twilight hours down
from a heaven home
high above the highest bidder
for the good Lord's throne
In the wee hours I'll meet you
down by Dun Ringill
oh, and we'll watch the old gods play
by Dun Ringill

We'll wait in stone circles
`til the force comes through
lines joint in faint discord
and the stormwatch brews
a concert of kings
as the white sea snaps
at the heels of a soft prayer
whispered
In the wee hours I'll meet you
down by Dun Ringill
oh, and I'll take you quickly
by Dun Ringill.

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: 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: 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: 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"

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
Jack-In-The-Green is track 2 on Songs From The Wood
Mayhem, Maybe and Kelpie are from the 20 Years boxed set
DunRinglil is on Stormwatch
Heavy Horses, while being an exquisit album, has nothng so overtly faerie, unless one is willing to count Weathercock... Which I guess I'd be willing to do as well...

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: 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.