Lyr Add: Dawning of the Day

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 09:21 PM

There are three erudite threads on "Raglan Road," the Patrick Kavanagh song (29901, 27263 [tune] and 43818, links at end), maybe more. This fairly recent song has the tune, but not the words of an older traditional "Dawning of the Day." The words by Kavanagh are open to interpretation, to judge by the messages in the threads. Somewhere in the "Raglan Road threads is reference to a title "Fainne Gael an Lae" which supposedly means Dawning of the Day.

I found no thread on the traditional versions of this Scots(?) tune. Two sets of lyrics from Canada are in the DT. The Traditional Ballad Index lists the first reference, 1930, from Ord, p. 163, and says the song is found in Canada, Scotland, and New England. Author and age unknown.
The following simple Scottish version is from Contemplator: Dawning There is a good midi.

Lyr. Add: THE DAWNING OF THE DAY

One morning early I walked forth
By the margin of Lough Leane.
The sunshine dressed the trees in green
And summer bloomed again.
I left the town and wandered on
Through fields all green and gay,
And whom should I meet but a colleen sweet
At the dawning of the day.

No cap or cloak this maiden wore,
Her neck and feet were bare.
Down in the grass in ringlets fell
Her glossy golden hair.
A milking pail was in her hand;
She was lovely, young and gay.
She wore the palm from Venus bright
By the dawning of the day.

On a mossy bank I sat me down
With the maiden by my side.
With gentle words I courted her
And asked her to be my bride.
She said, "Young man don't bring me blame,"
Ans swiftly turned away.
And the morning light was shining bright
At the dawning of the day.

@ballad @love @rejection
I suspect that this is a composed ballad, 18-19C. Any other old songs with this tune? Any dates?
Threads on "Raglan Road:" Raglan I
Raglan II
Raglan tune

---

Search for "dawning" threads

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 09:40 PM

An 18th century version in the Bodleian seems to be an unexpurgated version. The young man gets her pregnant, then refuses her request that she marry him because he has married someone else in the meantime. See Harding B25(480)
To be posted later.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 10:00 PM

For more information on the tune, see

Bruce Olson's Website   Early Irish Tunes Title Index

Subject: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 10:29 PM

DAWNING OF THE DAY
Bodleian Library, Harding B25(480), 18th C. broadside.

As I walked forth one morning fair, It was in summer time,
Each bush and tree was dresst in green, and vallies in their prime;
Returning homeward from a wake, thro' fields I took my way,
And there I met a comely maid by the dawning of the day.

No shoes or stockings, cap or cloak this comely maid did wear.
Her hair like shining silver twist lay on her shoulders bare,
With milking pail all in her hand so nobly(?) and so gay,
She did appear like Venus bright at the dawning of the day.

I said, sweet lovely female where are you going so soon,
I'm going milking, sir, said she, all in the month of June,
The pasture where that I must go, it is far away,
I must be there each morning clear by the dawning of the day.

You've time enough, my dear, said I, suppose it was a mile,
So on this primrose bank so sweet let's sit and talk awhile;
O sir, said she, my hurry will admit of no delay.
Look, all around the morning breaks, it's dawning of the day.

Pray do not be so distant, my own heart's delight,
For I alas am wounded all by your beauty bright;
O sir, forbear, don't banter me this lovely maid did say,
I can't suppose you'll me seduce, by the dawning of the day.

And thus she spoke, my arms I twin'd around her waist,
And sat her on the primrose bank, and there did her embrace;
Leave off your freedom, sir, said she, and let me go away,
The time is come, I can't delay, it's dawning of the day.

But when this lovely maiden came to herself again,
With heavy sighs, downcast eyes, she sorely did complain;
Young man, said she, I am afraid that you did me betray,
My virgin bloom you got full soon by dawning of the day.

I kiss'd my love at parting, then crossed o'er the plain,
In the course of seven months after I met her there again;
She seem'd rather dropsical as she walked o'er the hay,
And carelessly I pass'd her by at the noon time of the day.

The tears ran down her rosy cheeks and bitterly she cri'd.
Young man, said she, I think it's time that I was made your bride,
I pray make good the damage done as you before did say,
And don't forget the time we met at the dawning of the day.

I said, fair lovely damsel, I hope you'll me excuse,
To join with you in wedlock's bands indeed I must refuse;
For I've been lately married to a Girl near Bantry Bay,
With her I got *100l by the dawning of the day.

This sudden blunt refusal with her did not agree,
She said, you'll gain no credit, sir, by thus deluding me;
Now I may be a warning to other Maidens gay,
Never to leave their father's house by the dawning of the day.

* 100 pounds (?)

Subject: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: The Pooka
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 10:39 PM

That 18th century unexpurgated version sounds similar to the Newfoundland version (#2) in the DT:

Oh I said my handsome fair maid, it's me you must excuse
For to join in wedlock bands with you my dear I must refuse
For I being lately married to a girl from Moultry Bay
And with her I have five thousand pounds at the dawning of the day

Now for an Expurgated edition, with a note (at bottom) re its sources,
Click here

(Recorded by Makem & Clancy on the album "Two For the Early Dew"; Shanachie.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 10:43 PM

A search at The Fiddler's Companion will find (amongst other references, some unrelated):

Dawning of the Day (search results); including a short Irish Gaelic lyric published by Joyce, c.1890.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 10:51 PM

The version above (Harding B25(480) was printed in Worcester. By the printing I would guess very late 18C; not defined more closely than 17-- by the Bodleian. Another version with some different verses, Harding B26(119), was printed in Belfast between 1846-1852. The song seems to have been known throughout the British Isles and Ireland, not just in Scotland as stated in the Ballad Index.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 02 - 11:15 PM

The posting by Malcolm Douglas of the Fiddler's Companion link appears to establish the tune in the 18th C. if not earlier, in Ireland. The Irish title seems to be Faíne Geal an Lae, Dawn of Day, not as I noted previously.

Pooka, the wedding dowry certainly was upped from the 100 pounds in the version I posted. Nowadays, with DNA as proof, the maid could sue for a hefty support allowance.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 01:47 AM

The Ord version is as follows (differences from the Contemplator version underlined):

THE DAWNING OF THE DAY

One morning early I walked forth
By the margin of Lough Lene
The sunshine dressed the trees in green,
And summer bloomed again;
I left the town and wandered on
Through fields all green and gay;
And whom should I meet but a Coolen-dhas
By the dawning of the day.

No cap or cloak the maiden wore,
Her neck and feet were bare;
Down to the grass her ringlets fell
Her glossy golden hair;
A milking pail was in her hand,
She was lovely, young and gay;
She wore the palm from Venus bright,
By the dawning of the day.

On a mossy bank I sat me down,
With the maiden by my side;
With gentle words I courted her
And asked her for my bride;
She said, "Young man, don't bring me blame,
But let me go away,
For morning light is shining bright
By the dawning of the day."

--"This is another Irish Folk-song. A copy of it, set to music, appears in Joyce's Ancient Irish Music, published by M.H. Gill & Son, Limited, Dublin, 1912."

(From: John Ord, The Bothy Songs and Ballads of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray, Angus and the Mearns, 1930; reprinted ed., John Donald, [1990], p. 163; no music)

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 05:18 PM

yes, that's Fáinne Gael an Lae. I suppose that's yet another Irish-language lyric for me to type and post! And in Kathleen Hoagland "1000 Years of Irish Poetry", there is a translation by Edmunc Walsh, "At early dawn I once had been/Wher Lene's blue water's flow." Hoagland says the original dates from the 18th century.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 08:26 PM

The Leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/Aird3/01/00000102.html website: Dawning has GIF and Abc for Dawning of the Day. They say that the tune is better known as "Sitting in the Stern of a Boat." (Say what?). The song is credited to the Irish but they give Aird's "Airs and Melodies vol. 3" as a source of music transcription.

On http://www.mandolincafe.com/tab/dawnday.txt: Dawning in addition to tabs they note that the song is aka "The Morning Star" and credit it to Thomas Connelan ca. 1660- but cum grano salis, see post of 22 June with link to The Fiddler's Companion, Malcolm Douglas. Or is this a different song?

The line including "Dawning of the Day" figures in several other songs, including the "Love-Talker" (The Ganconer) by Ethna Carbery, 1866-1902, whick seems to be a complete remake of "Dawning of the Day."

Then there is the famous Irish song about the "Gallant hearts of ninety-eight," also with the title "The Dawning of the Day." I will post that one if it is not already in the DT or Forum.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 09:00 PM

Lyr. Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY (2)

God [G] rest you Robert Emmet
And God [D] rest you noble Tone
God [C] rest you Hugh O'[G]Donnell
And O'[D]Neill of brave [G] Tyrone.

God rest you Patrick Sarsfield
In your grave far, far away
God rest you all who strove to speed
The dawning of the day.

Chorus:
Freedom's bright and blessed day
Free from Saxon sway
Lift your hearts and pray
God speed us to the dawning of the day.

Not in vain you poured your life blood
Gallant hearts of ninety-eight
Not in vain you stood undaunted
'Neath the scourge of English hate
Men of Wexford, men of Aughrin
Men whose names shall ne'er dacay
But will shine like stars to lead us
To the dawning of the day.

Foreign foe and native traitor
Both have failed to quench the flame
That has guided Ireland's armies
Through the years of pride and shame
And 'twill flash the deathless glowing
Making bright the upward way
When our men shall march to freedom
At the dawning of the day.

For the fields your blood has hallowed
O you host of Irish dead
In the light of Freedom's morning
Men of Ireland yet shall tread
When the foemen reel before them
In the thunder of the fray
They shall shout your name in triumph
At the dawning of the day.

http://rebelchords.tripod.com/songspre1900/DawningOfTheDay.htm: Dawning
@rebellion @patriotism @Ireland
Not related to the ballad of seduction with the same name.

Subject: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Haruo
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 09:30 PM

Dicho, when I look at the Harding 25(480) version I see an entirely different text in which, far from being unexpurgated, they end up getting, I think, married. Are you sure you've got the right broadside number?

The text I see there reads (as near as I can make it out):

THE DAWNING OF THE DAY
Bodleian Library, Harding B25(480).

When daisies sweet bedeck the mead
     Where little lambkins play
I wandered o'er the banks o' Tweed,
     By the dawning of the day.

O ne'er can I forget that morn,
     That bonny morn o' May,
For there I met my winsome Kate,
     By the dawning of the day.

I said my bonny shepherd maid
     How far go you this way?
To milk my daddy's ewes she said,
     By the dawning of the day.

She spoke with such an angel grace
     And look'd so fair to view
That while I gazèd on her face,
     Love pierced my bosom through.

While forth we wandered to the dale,
     Where her flocks a-feeding lay
[I t?]old her to my tender [t?]ale,
     By the dawning of the day.

With blushing cheeks and downcast eyes
     To the Kirk [s?]he went straightway,
Where Hymen's bands did join their hands
     By the dawning of the day.

I've supplied stanza breaks that are wanting in the Bodleian copy, and have indicated (with blue) three places where I'm unsure of the intended reading. I suppose "I told to her my tender tale" is a reasonable euphemism, but "I told her to my tender tale" (tail?) is rather odd, I think. And where I supplied "she" it actually looks like "the" to me, and "they" would really make more sense (though "we" and "our hands" would be normal, I think. The shifts in grammatical person are disconcerting.

In any event, this is nothing like the text you give up the thread.

Liland

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 10:07 PM

That's because you have Harding B 11(2026), not Harding B 25(480), I'd say. I can't imagine why your link gives the wrong heading, but wrong it is!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 10:24 PM

I linked to the Bodleian website. Click on browse/search and enter dawning of the day. Ten listings show up. Click show records and scroll to Harding B25(480). The url location directly to the song is so long and involved that I am too faint of heart to try to link to it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 10:46 PM

You're probably better off using the "Browse Index" function than the "Search". I find it more reliable and quicker to use, though you do need to be good at guessing alternative titles and spellings.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 10:46 PM

Liland, thanks for working out another version from the first half of the 19th C. At least she has a name in this one (Kate). She is nameless in most, I think.
?? Hold her to my tender ? (something meaning breast?) The -'e perhaps is indicating some old usage.
"To the Kirk she went straightway" seems to be the other line. A lot of these old ephemera have bad type, grammar and spelling. I have even gone so far as to put a couple through Adobe to improve legibility somewhat before printing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Haruo
Date: 23 Jun 02 - 11:55 PM

Happy to be of service. I don't know myself, Malcolm, how I ended up with a url that clearly says "25(480)" yet links to 11(2026)! But there it is. Approaching them through browse the way you suggest, I get to the correct pages (which accord with what Dicho posted earlier). Ah well. Is there another one you'd like me to puzzle out?

Liland

Subject: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY / FÁINNE GEAL AN LAE
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 06:20 AM

to the best of my knowledge, Fáinne Geal an Lae is the song from which Paddy Kavanagh got the tune for his poem. I don't know what tunes the other lyrics given above are set to. (there are both other translations of Fáinne Geal an Lae above and different songs with the line "dawning of the day" in them)

THE DAWNING OF THE DAY
"Fáinne Geal an Lae", anonymous, 18th century
Poetic translation by Edward Walsh

At early dawn I once had been
Where Lene's blue waters flow,
When summer bid the groves be green,
The lamp of light to glow.
As on the bower, and town, and tower,
And widespread fields I stray.
I met a maid inthe greenwood shade
At the dawning of the day.

Her feet and beauteous head were bare,
No mantle fair she wore;
But down her waist fell golden hair,
That swept the tall grass o'er.
With milking-pail she sought the vale,
And bright her charms' display;
Outshining far the morning star
At the dawning of the day.

Beside me sat that maid divine
Where grassy banks outspread.
'Oh, let me call thee ever mine,
Dear maid,' I sportive said.
'False man, for shame, why bring me blame?'
She cried and burst away -
The sun's first light pursued her flight
At the dawning of the day.

Notes about the translation from Kathleen Hoagland,ed., "1000 Years of Irish Poetry". Old Greenwich, Conn.: Devin-Adair, copyright 1927, renewed 1975 - out of print :
"Walsh, Edward - was born in Derry in 1805; died in Cork, August 6, 1850. Walsh was well educated and became a private tutor and then a teacher in Cork. Moving to a smaller town, he began to write for the magazines and later went to Dublin. From Dublin, he was appointed schoolmaster to the convict station at Spike Island in Cork Harbor, now Cove. From there he moved to Cork Workhouse, where he taught until his death. He was a contributor to the 'Nation'. His work includes two volumes of translations from the Irish - the original text and then the translation. He was considered, next to Crofton Croker, as the authority on legendary and fairy-lore of the country."

I would very much like to see those "two volumes of translations from the Irish - the original text and then the translation." Hoagland's book contains a large number of poems in English that derive from older poems in Irish, but only the English-language versions are presented. But Fáinne Geal an Lae is easily obtainable from other printed sources. Here are two verses from "Amhránleabhar Ógra Éireann", Dublin: Folens & Co., 1971 (8th edition):

Fáinne Geal an Lae

Maidin mhoch go ghabhas amach
Ar bhruach Loch Léine
; An samhradh 'teacht 's an chraobh len' ais
'Gus lonradh te ón ngréin.
Ar thaisteal domí bhailte poirt
Is bánta míne réidhe,
Cé a gheobhainn lem ais ach an chúileann dheas
Le fáinne geal an lae.

Ní raibh bróg ná stoca, caidhp ná clóc'
Ar mo stóirín óg ón spéir,
Ach folt fionn órga síos go troigh
Ag fás go barr an fhéir. Bhí calán crúite aice ina glaic,
'S ar dhrúcht ba dheas a scéimh;
A thug barrghean óVéineas deas
Le fáinne geal an lae.

Verse 1 - I went out early morning by the backs of Loch Lene/summer was coming, trees budding, warm rays of the sun/travelling through harbour towns and meadows, /who should I meet but a pretty fair maiden/at the bright ring [dawn]of day.
Verse 2 - My young treasure from heaven wore no stockings, cape of cloak/ But her long golden hair swept the grass/ She clutched a milking-pail /and she looked beautiful in [morning] dew/that brought love from Venus[?]/With the bright dawn of the day.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OUTLAW OF LOCH LENE
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 06:22 AM

The following poem seems similar in respect to the vision of the woman, and has the same location.
THE OUTLAW OF LOCH LENE
Anonymous, 18th century, translated from the Irish by J J Callanan

Oh, many a day have I made good ale in the glen.
That came not of stream, or malt, like the brewing of men;
My bed was the ground; my rood the greenwood above,
And the wealth that I sought - one far kind glance from my love.

Alas! On the night when the horses I drove from the field,
That I was not near, from terror my angel to shield!
She stretched forth her arms - her mantle she flung to the wind,
And swam o'er Loch Lene, her outlawed lover to find.

Oh, would that a freezing, sleet-winged tempest did sweep,
And I and my love were alone far off on the deep!
I'd ask not a ship, or a bark, or pinnace to save -
With her hand round my waist, I'd fear not the wind or the wave.

'Tis down by the lake where the wild tree fringes its sides,
The maid of my heart, the fair one of heaven resides;
I think as at eve she wanders its mazes along,
The birds go to sleep by the sweet wild twist of her song.

JJ Callanan also translated 'Príosún Chluain Meala' as 'The Convict of Clonmel'. Kathleen Hoagland's "1000 Years of Irish Poetry" includes five poetic translations by Callanan and this biographical information:
""Callanan, James Joseph (Jeremiah) - was born in Cork, May 1795; died in Lisbon, Portugal, September 19, 1829. His parents wished him to become a priest and he entered Maynooth at the age of 17; but after two years left and entered Trinity College, Dublin, to study medicine. At Trinity he won two prizes for poetry. Leaving Trinity, he enlisted an after buying a release, gained a scant livelihood by teaching. Later, Callanan wandered through Ireland, gathering its legends and poetry. He died of tuberculosis in Portugal where he had gone as a tutor. His poetry was published in Cork in 1861. He was the first to give adequate versions of Irish Gaelic poems, and also among the first to introduce a Gaelic refrain into English poetry."

I find the last comment about Gaelic refrains in English poetry and would be interested in seeing some documentation; if anybody has any information on the topic, maybe they could start an appropriate discussion thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: GUEST,Donal
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 06:45 AM

Please note that Kathleen Hoagland's "1,000 Year's of Irish Poetry" is in print again, Amazon have it for about $15 U.S. The book should not perhaps be regarded as very authoritative, but it is a good cheap intro. to the subject. D O'C

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 09:13 AM

glad to hear it's back in print - very useful collection of poems. Now maybe someone could provide a companion volume with Irish language originals and maybe more background info and tunes? If I'd known the reprint was planned I'd have suggested an additional index giving titles and bibliography for finding the Irish language originals. Of course, any new work beyond a simple reprinting would make the book more expensive.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LOVE-TALKER (THE GANCONER)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 02:16 PM

Here is another, with a ghostly demon lover meeting the maid bound for milking, the customary sad ending and a request for the reader to pray for the soul of the maid "at dawning of the day." Really a different poem, but possibly was influenced by "Dawning of the Day."
Philippa, perhaps you know of the (I presume) legend. It reminds me of the Child ballad about the lady kissing her departed lover, mouldy in his coffin, but is not really comparable.

Lyr. Add: THE LOVE-TALKER (THE GANCONER)

I met the love-talker one eve in the glen,
He was handsomer than any of our handsome young men,
His eyes were blacker than the sloe, his voice sweeter far
Than the crooning of old Kevin's pipes beyond the Coolnagar.

I was bound for the milking with a heart fair and free-
My grief! My grief! that bitter hour drained the life from me;
I thought him human lover, though his lips on mine were cold,
And the breath of death blew keen on me within his hold.

I know not which way he came, no shadow fell behind,
But all the sighing rushes swayed beneath a fairy wind,
The thrush ceased its singing, a mist crept about,
We two clung together- with the world shut out.

Beyond the ghostly mist I could hear my cattle low,
The little cow from Balena, clean as driven snow,
The dun cow from Kerry, the roan from Inisheer,
Oh, pitiful their calling- and his whispers in my ear!

His eyes were a fire; his words were a snare;
I cried my mother's name, but no help was there;
I made the blessed sign; then he gave a dreary moan,
A wisp of cloud went floating by. and I stood alone.

Running ever thro' my head is an old-time rune-
"Who meets the Love-talker must weave her shroud soon."
My mother's face is furrowed with the sad tears that fall,
But the kind eyes of my father are the saddest sight of all.

I have spun the fleecy lint and now my wheel is still,
The linen length is woven for my shroud fine and chill,
I shall stretch me on the bed where a happy maid I lay-
Pray for the soul of Máire Og at dawning of the day!

Ethna Carbery, 1866-1902, from "The Four Winds of Eirinn: Poems by Ethna Carbery," Dublin, M. H. Gill & Son Ltd., 1906, pp. 16-17.
@Ireland @ghost @legend

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 02:29 PM

I forgot to cite the website for the Carbery tale, "The Love-Talker": Carbery

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Jun 02 - 02:38 PM

This is a better site anyway: (I posted this, but it got cut off from my 02:29 post ???)
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/carbery/eirinn/eirinn.html: Carbery Four Winds

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DAWNING OF THE DAY
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 29 Jun 02 - 09:53 AM

another reference, for tune, strange spelling. From folk song journal index provided on line by Bruce Olson.
Fwáingin Geal a Lae [The Dawning of the Day]; Journal of the Folk Song Society, JFSS 24, p. 229, 1921. [tune only]