Ahhh, Irish/Celtic music........Aside from occasionally hearing things like Danny Boy, I first became acquainted with it while a student discerning a vocation with the Passionists in Worcester, MA---I have loved it ever since. The family-favorite of Danny Boy when I was growing up was that recorded by Harry Belafonte.
My tastes for this music has branched out to many groups, but my absolute, hands-down favorite is a now disbanded duo from Boston called The Bedlam Boys. With only a few exceptions, they ONLY use guitars in terms of instruments...and as much as I LOVE the bodhran and the other usual Irish instruments, this group is my top pick. In my opinion, their harmonies are superior to groups like Simon & Garfunkel.
I was lucky to learn of them quite soon after they got together, and though they never did any concerts proper, I went to 4 different "house concerts", held at the homes of some of their other fans. They mostly recorded traditional pieces, with their own arranging style, but there is an occasional piece somewhat their own.....Puck's Farewell springs to mind.
And, in a very unusual sound, the album 'The Enchanted Garden' by the John Renbourne Group, incorporates a tabla, the Indian drum...wonderful!
Mark, excuse the delay in my reply. Our son is the organist at our church these days, and it falls to me to be the unofficial "music director" for him, and this means that my weekends are kaput for the foreseeable future. I'm just checking comments now. Wow. I am clearly behind in my experience of contemporary Celtic music. That is a tremendous list, and intriguing .. particularly the last one by that "anonymous guy!" I will look forward to listening to these this week after I recuperate a bit. Thank you!
I first heard “He Looked Beyond My Faults” when I was on summer assignment while in the seminary. It’s set to “Londonderry Air.” Mrs. Mary Clayton sang it at Mass one Sunday morning and I have never forgotten it. Unfortunately she never recorded it that I’m aware of. There are many versions on YouTube and I chose this one to share. I hope it moves you all as it does me.
What no lyrics? It's a good listen, but IMO, was meant to be sung. "Danny Boy" is both heart-rending and well-written, but I also like "An Irish Song". There are lots of variations out there, but I lie this one:
Would God that I might be an apple blossom,
that falls and floats, from off the twisted bough,
to find a home, beside your tender bosom,
and gently lie, where lies that blossom now.
Or would I were a little burnished apple,
for you to pluck me gliding by so fair,
while shade and sun, your robe of lawn will dapple,
and hide together in your crown of golden hair.
Or, would that I were one among the roses,
that bow to greet you as you float between,
while on the lowest branch a bud uncloses,
to win a smile from you, her lovely queen.
Nay, since I know your hand will ne’er caress me,
I’d be a leaf, and on your pathway lie,
if but perchance your snow-white foot might press me,
Mary, there were more lyrics than you could shake a stick at! All kinds of variations, including a goodly handful of very good hymns set to the tune. And there were over 900 versions recorded, as well. I decided to focus the story on the tune today. Sorry to disappoint!
Some are replacements for the wreckage Oliver has wreaked. :(
One that eludes me is a turn of century children’s book of operas. My grandmother had it. There were lovely illustrations with gentle retellings of the stories on which operas were based. On Saturday afternoons she listened to The Met on radio, she would get the book from the shelf and we would read the story of the music we would soon hear. That book was missing when my grandfather died. Sadly no one knew where it had gone.
Oh dear, the chewing! We have Tony's office gated off still, because our little Molly was fond of choosing a book "to her taste" from his lower shelves! And ah, the missing book. What a treasure it must have been. I was genuinely happy to learn that the writer of the lyrics for "Danny Boy" gave his song to an operatic singer! So much beautiful music.
This post! I love it! My grandfather, Patrick Franklin, would sit on the porch steps in the wee hours and sing Irish songs. He had an absolutely gorgeous voice. One of those songs was, of course, Danny Boy/Londonderry Air.
Jack, I have not seen that film, but I have to say that just reading the description: you've got me! We will look for it. Anne Bancroft was great, and the story line is right up my street!
Oh dear, treadle sewing machines. I had one (bought it in Nashville when I was a teen) and toted that thing all over the US while I was in college, grad school, had it when I met Tony, and then we toted it from NC to SC to RI, where I finally and reluctantly parted with it when we moved lock, stock, and barrel here to NH. I gave it to a friend, who sadly lost it to a house fire shortly afterwards. BUT I have a lovely one in Canada, purchased at an estate tag sale, in good working order. Do you sew with yours, or just collect? And no, they are anything but portable!!
My go-to sewing machine is my first treadle, a Wheeler Wilson 9 built around 1905. The Rolls Royce of its time, a magnificent piece of engineering. Thoroughly useful. The others came along just for the sake of charm, novelty, wonder. Most can still be used, including the latest, a Wheeler Wilson 3 from 1870. What did you have, what do you have now? Think what a sea-change that invention was! And all the centuries, millenia, of hand-sewn clothing which proceeded them. Staggering.
Oh, thanks for sharing the makes and models! They sound wonderful, and I am glad that they are working. Mine in Canada is a Singer, in very good working order, and a lovely case, with all the attachments. But I can't check the model number from here! And now that I have "only one" treadle machine, I no longer qualify as a "collector," haha! The sewing machine was a REAL game-changer!
Now, don't tempt me!!! I'm already trying to figure out where we could put Mr. Edison's Machine (along with the necessary horn!) on display. I have my eye on one, but I'm having a trouble justifying such a purchase when I already have a fine Brunswick console phonograph here, with hundreds of 78's!
Also, please give your husband my regards and gratitude. I am re-reading The Hundredfold as a Lenten devotion. It was good the first time, of course, and even better this time. Knowing the lay of the land, so to speak, I can better appreciate the scenery along the way. Magnificent work, this is.❣️
I will certainly tell him that. He will be pleased. I've dipped back into it again myself recently, and yes, knowing the lay of the land is indeed helpful. Any real work of literature is worth revisiting again and again. You can't possibly catch everything the first time. But I fear that in a throw-away world, people don't have much patience for this kind of reading. I've said that The Hundredfold is a masterpiece, and I know one when I see one. But I'm not the only person who has said so. I just wish we could find a wider audience for the poem. This is what a long-time literature professor and college administrator wrote about it at the time. HE GOT IT. https://www.doxology.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Esolens-Hundredfold-review.pdf
Oh, Tom Jones. I have to see if I can find his version now. The first song I ever heard by Tom Jones, I hated: "What's New, Pussycat? Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh!" Later I found out more about him and learned what a really fine singer / performer he was.
Debra, my older brother can feel your husband's pain regarding his beloved rock collection being thrown-out by his mother. After school one day, my brother came home to find that my mother had discarded his entire comic book collection. Spider man, Fantastic Four, Thor, et al., gone. I'm not sure he ever got over it! Italian mothers of a certain generation were definitely not overly sentimental.
Oh Barbara, we sometimes go to museums, and there Tony points out this or that carefully preserved and displayed fossil, and says to me, "I had one much finer than that!" or "I had several like that," or some such. THE COMIC BOOKS! The pain! My MIL also threw out the collection of pristine Baseball cards!!!! Not sentimental at all, haha!
I know what you mean, Amy. Last night -- and it was the wee hours when I was finishing up the essay -- I listened to many versions, and wow! what an amazing tune. To think that without someone(s) to preserve it, it might have just gotten lost over time!
In my newspaper columnist days, I interviewed in Belfast the director of the archive of traditional Irish music (I forget the official name; it's been 25 years). It was fascinating to hear all the earliest recordings and see photos of the legendary performers.
Oh, what a treat that must have been! I know that a lot of the song collectors once recording became possible went about the countryside everywhere seeking out songs which people knew, but which had never been written down, or which had different lyrics or variations. Vaughn Williams was one such collector, and he translated countless of theh tunes he collected into glorious hymn settings!
When I was little we had a songbook called The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. My mother would play songs from it on the piano and we children would sing. Londonderry Air, with its haunting tune, was one of my favorites. Much later in my life, I acquired a stepdaughter who told me that when she learned Danny Boy in elementary school -- "Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling," she thought it was about a plumber. We laughed our heads off.
Judy, I think I have seen or heard of that book. I have a book of folk songs that I used when my kids were small and we homeschooled them. I still have it and still consult it often. And "the pipes!" that makes me laugh! I found, when I was searching for audios last night, mention of a parody with the line "the pipes, the pipes are lee ee king!"
I love your memory of the bookshop that hunted out of print books for you. Reminds me of 84 Charing Cross Road.
Ahhh, Irish/Celtic music........Aside from occasionally hearing things like Danny Boy, I first became acquainted with it while a student discerning a vocation with the Passionists in Worcester, MA---I have loved it ever since. The family-favorite of Danny Boy when I was growing up was that recorded by Harry Belafonte.
My tastes for this music has branched out to many groups, but my absolute, hands-down favorite is a now disbanded duo from Boston called The Bedlam Boys. With only a few exceptions, they ONLY use guitars in terms of instruments...and as much as I LOVE the bodhran and the other usual Irish instruments, this group is my top pick. In my opinion, their harmonies are superior to groups like Simon & Garfunkel.
I was lucky to learn of them quite soon after they got together, and though they never did any concerts proper, I went to 4 different "house concerts", held at the homes of some of their other fans. They mostly recorded traditional pieces, with their own arranging style, but there is an occasional piece somewhat their own.....Puck's Farewell springs to mind.
And, in a very unusual sound, the album 'The Enchanted Garden' by the John Renbourne Group, incorporates a tabla, the Indian drum...wonderful!
A couple favorites......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CpuSpyZrJ0 'The Cruel Sister'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR7GyV4QIk4 'Three Things' (poem by Yeats)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAHbm_lmikA 'The Royal Forester'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbPbCoRztI4 'Tom of Bedlam'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZILu0U8Udbs 'Sonnet XVIII' (by some guy I've never heard of .......... ; ) )
Mark, excuse the delay in my reply. Our son is the organist at our church these days, and it falls to me to be the unofficial "music director" for him, and this means that my weekends are kaput for the foreseeable future. I'm just checking comments now. Wow. I am clearly behind in my experience of contemporary Celtic music. That is a tremendous list, and intriguing .. particularly the last one by that "anonymous guy!" I will look forward to listening to these this week after I recuperate a bit. Thank you!
I first heard “He Looked Beyond My Faults” when I was on summer assignment while in the seminary. It’s set to “Londonderry Air.” Mrs. Mary Clayton sang it at Mass one Sunday morning and I have never forgotten it. Unfortunately she never recorded it that I’m aware of. There are many versions on YouTube and I chose this one to share. I hope it moves you all as it does me.
https://youtu.be/hRszIRbCBjs?si=gNDiPCmLRwhIAH3r
Thank you, Father. What a lovely version to contemplate this week.
What no lyrics? It's a good listen, but IMO, was meant to be sung. "Danny Boy" is both heart-rending and well-written, but I also like "An Irish Song". There are lots of variations out there, but I lie this one:
Would God that I might be an apple blossom,
that falls and floats, from off the twisted bough,
to find a home, beside your tender bosom,
and gently lie, where lies that blossom now.
Or would I were a little burnished apple,
for you to pluck me gliding by so fair,
while shade and sun, your robe of lawn will dapple,
and hide together in your crown of golden hair.
Or, would that I were one among the roses,
that bow to greet you as you float between,
while on the lowest branch a bud uncloses,
to win a smile from you, her lovely queen.
Nay, since I know your hand will ne’er caress me,
I’d be a leaf, and on your pathway lie,
if but perchance your snow-white foot might press me,
and so at last to make me happy, though I die.
Mary, there were more lyrics than you could shake a stick at! All kinds of variations, including a goodly handful of very good hymns set to the tune. And there were over 900 versions recorded, as well. I decided to focus the story on the tune today. Sorry to disappoint!
I have a long list of books I would love to have.
Some are replacements for the wreckage Oliver has wreaked. :(
One that eludes me is a turn of century children’s book of operas. My grandmother had it. There were lovely illustrations with gentle retellings of the stories on which operas were based. On Saturday afternoons she listened to The Met on radio, she would get the book from the shelf and we would read the story of the music we would soon hear. That book was missing when my grandfather died. Sadly no one knew where it had gone.
Oh dear, the chewing! We have Tony's office gated off still, because our little Molly was fond of choosing a book "to her taste" from his lower shelves! And ah, the missing book. What a treasure it must have been. I was genuinely happy to learn that the writer of the lyrics for "Danny Boy" gave his song to an operatic singer! So much beautiful music.
This post! I love it! My grandfather, Patrick Franklin, would sit on the porch steps in the wee hours and sing Irish songs. He had an absolutely gorgeous voice. One of those songs was, of course, Danny Boy/Londonderry Air.
Ah, your grandfather, Patrick! That must have been a treat indeed, hearing him sing!
It was lovely.
Deborah: Re Old Authors in Iowa: Have you watched the movie 84 Charring Cross Rd?
If not, might I suggest that you drop everything and do so?
Anne Bancroft at her very best.
Jack, I have not seen that film, but I have to say that just reading the description: you've got me! We will look for it. Anne Bancroft was great, and the story line is right up my street!
I recommend that movie too!
The Ormandy version is ideal! Love that sweeping sound. My own fave is John McC something....the Scot/Canadian guy w the Irish Tenors.🥳
My collection, btw, is treadle sewing machines. Endlessly fascinating and addictive. Not especially portable however.😉
Oh dear, treadle sewing machines. I had one (bought it in Nashville when I was a teen) and toted that thing all over the US while I was in college, grad school, had it when I met Tony, and then we toted it from NC to SC to RI, where I finally and reluctantly parted with it when we moved lock, stock, and barrel here to NH. I gave it to a friend, who sadly lost it to a house fire shortly afterwards. BUT I have a lovely one in Canada, purchased at an estate tag sale, in good working order. Do you sew with yours, or just collect? And no, they are anything but portable!!
My go-to sewing machine is my first treadle, a Wheeler Wilson 9 built around 1905. The Rolls Royce of its time, a magnificent piece of engineering. Thoroughly useful. The others came along just for the sake of charm, novelty, wonder. Most can still be used, including the latest, a Wheeler Wilson 3 from 1870. What did you have, what do you have now? Think what a sea-change that invention was! And all the centuries, millenia, of hand-sewn clothing which proceeded them. Staggering.
Oh, thanks for sharing the makes and models! They sound wonderful, and I am glad that they are working. Mine in Canada is a Singer, in very good working order, and a lovely case, with all the attachments. But I can't check the model number from here! And now that I have "only one" treadle machine, I no longer qualify as a "collector," haha! The sewing machine was a REAL game-changer!
Far be it from me to entice a sister in Christ into temptation......but maybe your Winter House could have a treadle, too!😉
Now, don't tempt me!!! I'm already trying to figure out where we could put Mr. Edison's Machine (along with the necessary horn!) on display. I have my eye on one, but I'm having a trouble justifying such a purchase when I already have a fine Brunswick console phonograph here, with hundreds of 78's!
Also, please give your husband my regards and gratitude. I am re-reading The Hundredfold as a Lenten devotion. It was good the first time, of course, and even better this time. Knowing the lay of the land, so to speak, I can better appreciate the scenery along the way. Magnificent work, this is.❣️
I will certainly tell him that. He will be pleased. I've dipped back into it again myself recently, and yes, knowing the lay of the land is indeed helpful. Any real work of literature is worth revisiting again and again. You can't possibly catch everything the first time. But I fear that in a throw-away world, people don't have much patience for this kind of reading. I've said that The Hundredfold is a masterpiece, and I know one when I see one. But I'm not the only person who has said so. I just wish we could find a wider audience for the poem. This is what a long-time literature professor and college administrator wrote about it at the time. HE GOT IT. https://www.doxology.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Esolens-Hundredfold-review.pdf
Which preceded them.🤦
Excellent. I think my favorite version is by Tom Jones. What pipes he has.
Oh, Tom Jones. I have to see if I can find his version now. The first song I ever heard by Tom Jones, I hated: "What's New, Pussycat? Whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh!" Later I found out more about him and learned what a really fine singer / performer he was.
Debra, my older brother can feel your husband's pain regarding his beloved rock collection being thrown-out by his mother. After school one day, my brother came home to find that my mother had discarded his entire comic book collection. Spider man, Fantastic Four, Thor, et al., gone. I'm not sure he ever got over it! Italian mothers of a certain generation were definitely not overly sentimental.
Oh Barbara, we sometimes go to museums, and there Tony points out this or that carefully preserved and displayed fossil, and says to me, "I had one much finer than that!" or "I had several like that," or some such. THE COMIC BOOKS! The pain! My MIL also threw out the collection of pristine Baseball cards!!!! Not sentimental at all, haha!
Good one! Sometimes I find the tune almost too sad to listen to.
I know what you mean, Amy. Last night -- and it was the wee hours when I was finishing up the essay -- I listened to many versions, and wow! what an amazing tune. To think that without someone(s) to preserve it, it might have just gotten lost over time!
In my newspaper columnist days, I interviewed in Belfast the director of the archive of traditional Irish music (I forget the official name; it's been 25 years). It was fascinating to hear all the earliest recordings and see photos of the legendary performers.
Oh, what a treat that must have been! I know that a lot of the song collectors once recording became possible went about the countryside everywhere seeking out songs which people knew, but which had never been written down, or which had different lyrics or variations. Vaughn Williams was one such collector, and he translated countless of theh tunes he collected into glorious hymn settings!
When I was little we had a songbook called The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. My mother would play songs from it on the piano and we children would sing. Londonderry Air, with its haunting tune, was one of my favorites. Much later in my life, I acquired a stepdaughter who told me that when she learned Danny Boy in elementary school -- "Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling," she thought it was about a plumber. We laughed our heads off.
Judy, I think I have seen or heard of that book. I have a book of folk songs that I used when my kids were small and we homeschooled them. I still have it and still consult it often. And "the pipes!" that makes me laugh! I found, when I was searching for audios last night, mention of a parody with the line "the pipes, the pipes are lee ee king!"