By Gracey822 on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 07:14 pm:
Hi I'm singing a song called the Gartan Mother's Lullaby. One of the phrases in the song is "A lyan van o" Could someone translate it for me? Thank you! Anna
By Shae on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 11:35 pm:
I don't know the song but "lia ban" = midwife.
Gartan is in Donegal and Gartan Soil is supposed to have healing properties. You can't just pick it up yourself, though. It has to be given to you in trust. Doesn't work otherwise.
By Gracey822 on Saturday, October 27, 2001 - 06:15 am:
Thank you! There is also reference to a red-bee, the grey rock, the Green Man's Thorn, Do they have special meanings to? Anna
By Shae on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 07:09 am:
The red bee is the honey bee whose sleepy droning in the evening is spposed to have a soporific effect. The grey rock is a reference to the Otherworld where the fairies live. Aoibheall (pronounced EE-VIL) is a good fairy who casts a calming spell over the world at bed time.
The Green Man is a strange person. He usually has foliage growing from his mouth or ears and could be a frightening image for children. Very often, the foliage is thorny.
I found the lyrics for the lullaby at:
http://personal.myavista.com/acflynn/gartan.html
By Gracey822 on Wednesday, October 31, 2001 - 02:21 am:
Shea,
Thank you for the link and all your help. I really appreciate it. Anna
By Gracey822 on Wednesday, October 31, 2001 - 02:32 am:
I have one more question. When pronouncing Aoibheall and Siabra the pronunciation guide says: EE-val and SHEE-vra. My question is are the "v"s in the pronuciation guide pronounced like English "v"s or more like a Spanish "v"s, sounding more like a "b"? Thanks Anna
By Shae on Wednesday, October 31, 2001 - 05:42 am:
Like the English "v".
By Gracey822 on Saturday, November 3, 2001 - 07:05 am:
Thank you:)
By Guest on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 04:38 pm:
Where can i get lyrics for Eanach amarach i gcontae an chlair? thanks