Lyr Req: Do chuirfinn-se fein mo leanbh a chodla

Subject: lullaby from Petrie's
From: Susan-Marie
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 11:51 AM

Once again I'm looking for the lyrics (and a translation if possible) of an Irish lullaby - this one is " Do chuirfinnse fein" I have a recording of it, in which the liner notes say it's from Petrie's Ancient Music of Ireland. Can anyone look it up for me? Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: lullaby from Petrie's
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:08 PM

All I found was CD's for sale.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: lullaby from Petrie's
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:16 PM

It appeared in the original edition (1855) of Petrie's collection on page 145; Do chuirfinn-si féin mo leanabh a chodhlach (I would put my own child to sleep).  It subsequently appeared in Stanford's The Complete Collection of Irish Music as Noted by George Petrie (vol. II, 1902) as number 1011, titled (generically) Nurse Tune, with no lyric given.  It was communicated to Petrie by "Mr. Joyce" (presumably Patrick Weston Joyce?)

I have only Stanford-Petrie, so I can't help with the text.  Perhaps the page-reference may help, though.  (Information from an article by Donal O'Sullivan, The Petrie Collections of Irish Music, in The Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, vol.5, no.1, 1946, which includes a very useful table of the tunes in Petrie, cross-referenced with their -often untitled- appearances in the later collection.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: lullaby from Petrie's
From: MartinRyan
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 06:26 PM

Thanks for the reference to O'Sullivan, Malcolm! There's a set, complete with translation, in his "Songs of the Irish". I'm a bit busy at the moment and may not have a chance to transcribe it for a while.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: lullaby from Petrie's
From: GUEST,Susan-Marie at home
Date: 07 Nov 01 - 10:10 AM

Martin - No hurry, I have about five songs I need to work on before I get to this one. Thanks for even thinking about transcribing it. Another alternative would be to photocopy it and mail it to me. Pm me and I'll give you my address.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: lullaby from Petrie's
From: MartinRyan
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 05:59 PM

PM sent

Regards

Subject: Lyr Add: DO CHUIRFINN-SE FÉIN (from D O'Sullivan)
From: GUEST,Seán
Date: 04 Jul 03 - 05:17 PM

From "Songs of the Irish" by Donal O'Sullivan (non-standard spellings)

Do chuirfinn-se féin mo leanbh a chodla,
'S ní mar do chuirfeadh mná na mbodach,
Fá shúisín bhuí ná i mbaralín bharraigh,
Ach i gcliabhán óir is an ghaoth dhá bhoga.

[Curfá]
Seó hin seó, hú leó leó,
Seó hin seó, is tú mo leanbh,
Seó hin seó, hú leó leó,
Seó hin seó, 's is tú mo leanbh.

Do chuirfinn-se féin mo leanbh a chodla
Lá breá gréine idir dhá Nodlaig,
I gcliabhán óir ar úrlár shocair,
Faoi bharraí na gcraobh is an ghaoth dhá bhoga.

[Curfá]

Codail, a leinbh, 's gura codla slán dhuit,
Is as do chodla go dtugair do shláinte;
Nár bhailidh treighid ná greim an bháis tú,
Galar na leanbh ná'n bholgach ghránna.

[Curfá]

Codail, a leinbh, 's gura codla slán dhuit,
Is as do chodla go dtugair do shláinte;
As do smaointe do chroí nár chráitear,
Is nára bean gan mac do mháthair!

--

I'd put you myself, my baby, to slumber,
Not as 'tis done by the clownish number--
A yellow blanket and coarse sheet bringing,
But in golden cradle that's softly swinging

[Chorus]
To and fro, lu la lo,
To and fro, my bonnie baby!
To and fro, lu la lo,
To and fro, my own sweet baby!

I'd put you myself, my baby, to slumber
On sunniest day of the pleasant summer,
Your golden cradle on smooth lawn laying,
'Neath murmuring boughs that the birds are swaying

[Chorus]

Slumber, my babe! may the sweet sleep woo you,
And from your slumbers may health come to you,
May all disease now flee and fear you,
May sickness and sorrow ne'er come near you!

[Chorus]

Slumber, my babe! may the sweet sleep woo you,
And from your slumbers may health come to you,
May bright dreams come, and come no other,
And may I be never a sonless mother!

GEORGE SIGERSON

--

[More literal? translation]

1. I would myself put my baby to sleep, And not as the wives of rustics do,
Under a yellow blanket or a sheet of tow, But in a golden cradle rocked by the
wind.

Chorus: Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo, Sho-heen sho, you are my baby,
Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo, Sho-heen sho, and you are my baby.

2. I would myself put my baby to sleep, On a fine sunny day between two
Christmases, In a golden cradle on a smooth floor, Beneath the tree-tops and
rocked by the wind.

3. Sleep, my baby, sound be your sleep, And from your sleep may you wax in
health; May neither colic nor death-stitch strike you, The infants' disease
nor the ugly smallpox.

4. Sleep, my baby, sound be your sleep, And from your sleep may you wax in
health; By painful dreams may your heart be untroubled, And may your mother
not be a sonless woman!

There's also a version on this page Dornán dánta agus amhrán

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: lullaby from Petrie's
From: masato sakurai
Date: 04 Jul 03 - 10:00 PM

Sources given in Songs of the Irish by Donal O'Sullivan:

Tune and text: Petrie (1855), 144-6. Tune and verse 1 noted by P.W. Joyce in 1854 from Mrs. Cudmore of Glenosheen, County Limerick; verse 2 noted by Joyce from John Dinan of Glenosheen; verses 3 and 4 from Eugene O'Curry. Translation: Sigerson's Bards of the Gael and Gall (1897), 343.

~Masato