Traditional Irish Music
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THE BALLAD OF CLAN MAC AROON
Listen ye now to a story
The history of Clan Mac Aroon
Tis a tale to set brave hearts a tremble
And cause many a faint heart to swoon
The English were thick in the Highlands
Each with a sword neath his goon
They were searching the moor and the heather
For the King's diamond crusted spittoon
But they needn't ah looked any further
Twas in the hands of the Clans Mac Aroon
The fight that ensued was ferocious
With many a fine lad laid doon
And though the bagpipes were playin atrocious
It made the British just wonna gae hoom
They were stubborn and bent on destruction
And they fought to the last Mac Aroon
When the dust and the smoke had all settled
And the battle was over and doon
There was naught but a pile of rubble
Where the Mac Aroon castle had boon
But the English went home empty handed
For although the battle they woon
They never more saw the King's cuspidor
Nor slew they the last Mac Aroon
So we sing and we drink our proud fellows
Whose brave sons were laid in their tomb
For they fought and they died
On the wide Firth of Clyde
just to spit in an English spittoon
The gloroius Clan Mac Aroon
Read by Ronnie Drew, this is one of the great stories of Ireland :
Here's another great story, told by the late and great Ronnie Drew.
The Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Dannan
When the Tuatha De Dannan conquered Britain and came to Ireland they brought with them Four Sacred Objects, that represented the Four Balancing Elements. The Stone of Fal rests in the Northern Point; The Invincible Spear of Lugh stands in the East; The Sword of Nuada pierces the Southern Point; and from the mythical city of Murias, the Inexhaustible Cauldron of Dagda rests in the West. Of these four, the Cauldron was the possession of the Great Father, Dagda,...named for his bravery and physical ability. It is said he owned a great club that killed with one end and revived the dead with the other. In the battle of Mag Tured he killed the Fomorians,...beings associated with the forces of nature that posed challenges to humankind. Dagda also had a spear, that when dragged across the ground formed a deep ditch in the Earth. It is said that Dagda, Lugh and Ogmios came upon the Fomorian camp with the intent of rescuing his harper. Dagda saw his harp hanging on a wall, and calling to it, the harp flew into his hand. He then played the Three Strains - the Strain of Sorrow, the Strain of Laughter and the Strain of Sleep, which put the Fomorians into the deepest of sleeps. Dagda, Lugh and Ogmios then proceeded from the camp without challenge and unnoticed.
From pre-christian Celtic Mythology
Hey Kees!!! I knew if you joined this group you wouldn't fail to provide stimulating and fun stuff. "Deidre of the Sorrows" is one such submission. Well done,....keep 'em coming!!! Cheers,
Danny
I have uploaded "Deirdre of the Sorrows" a lovely Irish legend, on to youtube. It is read by Ronnie Drew, and is part of a series of CD's that were originally released by the Irish Sunday Times I believe...
I have some more, and if you lot like it I may upload the other ones as well
W. B. Yeats has, for years, been one of my favorites. Here for your enjoyment is "The Stolen Child", a poem mentioning places around Sligo.
The Stolen Child
Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth W0od in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats.
There we've hid our fairy vats
Full of berries,
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O, human child !
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than
you can understand.
Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light,
Far of by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances,
Mingling hands, and mingling glances,
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap,
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles.
And is anxious in its sleep.
Come away ! O, human child !
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than
you can understand.
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes,
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek the slumbering trout,
And whispering in their ears;
We give them evil dreams,
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Of dew on the young streams.
Come ! O, human child !
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than
you can understand.
Away with us, he's going,
the solemn eyed;
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hill-side.
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast;
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than
he can understand.
Back in 2007 when in Ireland, I purchased a book that has become a favorite of mine: "Meeting The Other Crowd" by Eddie Lenihan. It is a collection of Fairy stories about "the Good People", collected from oral sources from various parts of Ireland. In order to comply with the publishers right of not copying their property, I'll give the gist of the story in my own words. For the original writing check the book.
A Musician's Story
There was a man that used to go out at night. One night, he heard the music of a violin. He himself was an accomplished fiddler which he asscociated with the Wee Folk. He was asked, " Did you ever come back with a tune from it?"
"Hard to believe me, but whenever I would listen to music anywhere I would always be able take some of it with me,....but I could never bring back any of the fairy music."
"You mean to tell me that you could never even get a note of the music on your fiddle?"
"No,...not even one note at all."
Now this man was a musician of great talent,...he could read it or play it in one hearing.
"No,...the music was not real, in a sense. T'was full of wind, and was like a tangled briar patch."
It was easy to understand that he, or anyone else that heard that music of the night were never able to fully recall or repeat it's sound or melody. The Fairy Music is something that could never have a bonding to it. Any musician that hears it can never take it with them.
This story is unusual since there are many stories of folk bringing back Fairy Music across the twilight of their world and ours. It's explained that if the "Good People" give it freely, as a reward for good treatment or a favour done, then a person would be able to bring it back from the Fairy World.
June 3, 2021 from 5:30pm to 7pm – Queens Central Library
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