Lyr Req: lost lullaby: O hush thee

Subject: lost lullaby: O hush thee
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 11:01 PM

WHile I'm on a roll of trying to track down old songs I performed as a child 15 years ago I thought I'd add this sweet little lullaby.

It was called O Hush Thee or O Hush Thee My Baby.

It starts, O Hush thee my baby, thy sire was a knight
Thy Mother a lady both gentle and bright

The hills and the (something) as far as you see
are all belonging dear baby to thee.

From what I remember it had a really sweet tune and the lyrics were almost a ballad, telling the story of nobly born baby, perhaps a little duke or prince who had the misfortune to become and orphan soon after birth but who was possessed of great riches and titles.

Subject: RE: lost lullaby: O hush thee
From: GUEST,Jerry Friedman
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 11:37 PM

Try this for the words. The amazing Google Book Search is always worth a check.

By Sir Walter Scott. My mother has a songbook with this, titled I think "The Infant Chief's Lullaby".

Subject: RE: lost lullaby: O hush thee
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 02:14 AM

The search engine here is always worth a go, too. See thread Lullaby of an Infant Chief: includes tune in abc format and links to sheet music for other settings.

Subject: RE: lost lullaby: O hush thee
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 05:50 AM

Sir Walter's lyrics were also set by W H Gill in the 1896 Boosey & Co's publication, 'Manx National Songs'.

Gill's arrangement is based on a tune known in Manx simply as 'Arrane y Chlean', meaning 'Song of the Cradle'/'Cradle Song'.

The tune has also sounded to me to be related to the song found elsewhere as 'Rocking the Cradle' - 'Weeping and wailing, and rocking the cradle, and rocking the baby that's none of my own'.

Lhiats,

Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: lost lullaby: O hush thee
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 05:51 AM

'always', not 'also'!

Bobby Bob

Subject: Lyr Add: LULLABY OF AN INFANT CHIEF (Walter Scott)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Nov 07 - 06:09 PM

From The Poetical Works of Walter Scott, 1820:

LULLABY OF AN INFANT CHIEF.
AIR—"Gadil gu lo." *

I.
O hush thee, my babie, thy sire was a knight;
Thy mother a lady, both lovely and bright;
The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see,
They all are belonging, dear baby, to thee.
O ho ro, i ri ri, cadil gu lo,
O ho ro, i ri ri, &c.

II.
O fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows,
It calls but the warders that guard thy repose;
Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red,
Ere the step of a foeman draws near to thy bed.
O ho ro, i ri ri, &c.

III.
O hush thee, my baby, the time soon will come,
When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum;
Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may,
For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day.
O ho ro, i ri ri, &c.

* "Sleep on till day." These words, adapted to a melody somewhat different from the original, are sung in my friend Mr Terry's drama of Guy Mannering.