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29 Apr 20 - 08:46 AM (#4049311) Subject: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,PD Hi,in a book by Elspeth Huxley I came across this verse; Oh that the peats would cut themselves And all the little fishes leap upon the shore That I might lie upon my back And rest for ever more. Oich! Oich! She says it was a favourite West Highlands song of her father's. It may just be a stand-alone fragment of verse - but does anyone know a name and a full lyric? |
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29 Apr 20 - 09:04 AM (#4049313) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,Starship O that the peats would cut themselves, The fish chump on the shore, And that I in my bed might lie Henceforth for ever more! That appears in John Buchan's work also. Looks like it is a lone stanza (verse). |
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29 Apr 20 - 11:03 AM (#4049339) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,Starship You may wish to see the following: https://books.google.ca/books?id=MHJODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT266&lpg=PT266&dq=O+that+the+peats+would+cut+themselves,+The+fish+chump+on+the |
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30 Apr 20 - 03:37 PM (#4049601) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,PD Thanks very much, Starship. The Buchan story was published in 1919, which fits well, as Huxley's reference to the verse is set in a period of her childhood around 1913 (though her book wasn't published till 1959). And they both source it to the West Highlands. Buchan calls it 'the crofter's psalm' so, yes, probably a lone stanza. |
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30 Apr 20 - 03:53 PM (#4049605) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,Starship You are most welcome. I looked further after finding the Buchan story but haven't found anything to suggest it is part of a longer poem (or song). Your reasoning makes sense to me :-) |
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30 Apr 20 - 04:06 PM (#4049610) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: Helen A Google search reveals these references: Nations And States: An Enquiry Into The Origins Of Nations And The Politics ... By Hugh Seton-watson refers to it as "the well-known Hebridean's prayer " The Xenophobe's Guide to the Scots By David Ross refers to it as The Crofter's Prayer Scottish Tradition (RLE Folklore): A Collection of Scottish Folk Literature By David Buchan refers to it as The Skyman's Prayer So they all refer to it as a prayer and not a song. |
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30 Apr 20 - 04:12 PM (#4049611) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: Helen Just found this: The text of the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal refers to Norman M'Leod's Crofter's Prayer |
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30 Apr 20 - 07:51 PM (#4049640) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,PD Thanks, Helen. Google didn't perform as well for me. Yes, seems to be a quite well known spoken/written rhyme in its day, as evidenced by the different versions. |
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30 Apr 20 - 09:37 PM (#4049658) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: Helen It's a secret ex-librarian's trick. If I told you I'd have to kill you except, being Mudcat, I wouldn't know where to find you, so you are safe. Use quotation marks around a phrase to only search for those words in that order: "Oh that the peats would cut themselves" The trick can backfire a little bit if the words have been incorrectly remembered but if I don't get a good result with one line or phrase I'll usually try a different line. |
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03 May 20 - 02:53 PM (#4050168) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,Starship Ditto what Helen said. It is also used by teachers to determine how liberally and literally students have quoted or not quoted. |
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03 May 20 - 08:53 PM (#4050219) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: Helen Yep, Starship, I caught out an adult education student once, big-time, using that method. LOL |
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04 May 20 - 01:46 PM (#4050468) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Can you name this song? From: GUEST,PD Thanks for the tip! |