Between the Worlds: Liner Notes
1. Exile (Aine Minogue)
The journey begins as movement between worlds and the beginning of the search; moving from birth to death, from the old world to the new, and from this world to the next. Here, the sea is a metaphor for the carrier whose female fluidity divides and joins the male solidity of the land. As the movements of the sea go from turbulent to calm, nothing is assured. The quest for the betweenness of old and new, the place that is neither sand nor sea, leads to where both embrace in a mosaic of foreign sounds from different corners of the world.
Exile LYRICS (Áine Minogue)
Tread softly when you leave
A journey safe to you
A pilgrimage to foreign lands
Seek sanctuary true
Chorus: Exile... exile...
I cannot of two places be
Cannot be the shore and be the sea
To seek... to search... to find the place
Where sand and shore simply interlace
Slipped those ways into a life
Not knowing that you'd grow with me
The freedom that you gave... to see
Threefold earned this loyalty
Cannot be two ways complete
Cannot be both day and night
Surrendering to find the space...
As dawn and dusk find their resting place
2. O Carolan
This piece by Turlough O'Carolan, the 18th-century blind Irish composer, combines the classical with the traditional Irish musical world. The genius of O'Carolan was in incorporating the essence of the music of his homeland with the European classical tradition he emulated.
3. Silence ((Áine Minogue)
“The silence of the forest is my bride and the sweet dark warmth of the whole world is my love, and out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world."
Learning to Love: Exploring Solitude and Freedom. Volume 6, p 240:1966-1967
Silence LYRICS (Áine Minogue)
Welcome.. silence... to my place
I've missed you for so long
I sought your face a thousand times in voices loud and strong
In searching for your solitude... I looked and looked without
And where else should I find your face... upon this holy ground.
Now... silence... would you not... spend more time just here
Your breeze is as a lover fine, a lover fine to me
And in the quiet darkness of our sacred place
I'd hold your court and bid you never leave here or away
Through worlds divine and shadows fine and 'cross the seven seas
Forever searching... wanderlust... in hopes of home to see
If... silence... you've a home... a place for us to be
Then glad I'll be your lover true
And go there... go there... with you
Many achieve their stillness on “holy ground.” It would be difficult to find an area in Ireland that does not have old sites such as “ring forts” or what came to be known as “holy wells” places where ancient lines of power were thought to intersect. After the introduction of Christianity, churches were often built at many of these sites. It was believed that the boundaries between territories were supernatural and that water that flowed between two or three territories might perhaps have curative powers.
4. The Grove
Perhaps the ultimate "holy ground" was the grove, the site of prayer. Their reverence for nature - and working within its boundaries - made them particularly respectful of the elements in states of betweenness. They loved the seashore, neither land nor sea; the fog or mist, neither water nor air; dawn and dusk, neither night nor day.
Their sacred branch was holly, neither bush nor tree. Celebrations revolved around the agricultural cycle of the year, and they led the people in the union of practical life and the earthly world with that of the spirit.
5. Mal Bhán (Mol Vawn)
The Celtic cycle of the year was marked by four major "fire festivals": Beltaine, Samhain, Lughnasadh and Imbolc. These boundaries marked the new season, and allowed for movement between the worlds as lines along which the supernatural were thought to break through to the surface of existence. Beltaine occurred on the First of May, May Day, and marked the beginning of the "light half" of the year. It was symbolized by the white flowering hawthorn tree, around which ritual dancing took place to ensure a good harvest (Lughnasadh) later that year. Mal Bhán represents the spirit of spring after the long winter, with a raw and markedly erotic energy, celebrating the earth at its most forceful.
Mal Bhán Ní Chuilionáin LYRICS
Ar meisce cha dtéim níos mó,
Braon leanna go doe ní bhlaisfidh mé
Ór chailleas mo chailín beag óg
A chuireadh im phóca an t-airgead.
Chorus:
Is fada liom uaim í, uaim í
Is fada liom uaim í o d'imigh sí
Is fada liom thíos is thuas í,
Malaí na gCuach Ní Chuilionáin.
Bhí mé lá amuigh ar an gcoill
Is tharla dom soilse bradóige
A dhéanfadh an marbhán beo
Nó réice boic óig de sheanduine.
Dá mbeinnse in eipir an bháis
Agus daoine dhá rá nach dtiocfainn as,
Ní dhéanfainn mo thiomna go brách
Go dtiocfadh sí, Mal Bhan Ní Chuilionáin.
Déanfaidh mé toigh ar an aird,
Is beidh ceithre ba bainne breaca agam.
Ní ligfidh mé do aoinne dhá mbleán,
Ach Malaí na gCuach Ní Chuilionáin.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION Molly (Ni Chuilionain - Name) with the curly hair
Drunkenness for life I forego,
Strong ale I will taste never more,
Since I lost my pretty young maid,
Who would plenish my pockets with riches.
CHORUS:
I long for her from me, from me,
I long for her from me, since leaving me,
I long for her above and below me,
The curly haired Mal Bhan Ni Chuilionain (name)
I happened one day in the woods,
and I met a charming young maiden
She'd make a corpse come alive,
and a lovely young man of an old fellow.
If I were in the last throes of death,
And people could see no recovery,
I'd never dictate my last will,
'Till the arrival of Mal Bhán Ni Chuilionaíßßn
Drunkenness for life I forego,
Strong ale I will taste never more,
Since I lost my pretty young maid,
Who would plenish my pockets with riches.
Here’s Robert Bowles translation. It’s always so interesting to see how different writers approach a translation!
ENGLISH TRANSLATION (Robert Bowles)
I'll never et drunk again;
No drop of drink will I taste
Since I lost my pretty young firl
That used to put money in my pocket
CHORUS:
She is far from me, from me
She is far from me since she left
She is far, high up and low down
Molly the Ringlets O'Cullinane.
I was out in the wood
When I met a bright roguish woman
That would revive a corpse
Or make a buck rake of an old fellow.
If I was at my last gasp
And people saying I would not recover
I wouldn't ever make my will
Until she'd come, Blond Molly Cullinane.
I'll build a house on the hillock,
And I'll have four speckled milch cows.
I'll not have them milked by anyone,
But Molly the Ringlets O'Cullinane.
Note: Mál Bhán Ní Chuilionáin was an allegorical name used by early 18th Century poets to refer to Ireland itself.
6. Between the Worlds
During these seasonal feasts, the veil between the worlds was thought to be lifted, the obstacles removed, the laws of space suspended, and communion with one's ancestors became a distinct possibility. They celebrated freedom from addiction to the purely visible, in the age-old premise of a life beyond this one, in which our ancestors are no further away than the next world. And that world itself being rather close by.
Between the Worlds LYRICS ((Áine Minogue)
And as you move between the worlds
Great sorrow will I feel
As first and last they journey same
Through nature's passageway
Chorus:
You're welcome, soul, to be with me
I'll happy be your guide
Teach to me what's been forgot
The old ways, by and by.
I've begged the wise to lead me to
The places you have been
But glimpses in these waking dreams
Is all they'll let me see.
And as you move between the worlds
Such sorrow makes us reel (real)
As first and last they journey same
Through nature's passageway.
7. Fyvie Castle
Samhain was the feast that marked the end of the “dark half" of the year and the beginning of the "dark half." The light half was that of the people, the dark half belonged to the earth, the cycle of time being expressed in the basic duality of darkness and light. Samhain, or Halloween as it has come to be known, was actually New Year's Eve in the Celtic calendar. For the Celts, the dark always preceded the light and day began at dusk, not dawn.
This was the time for solitary introspection and reflection.
8. Rosemary Faire
Lughnasadh was the harvest feast and if you’ve had a chance to watch “Dancing at Lughnasadh” (Meryl Streep), it becomes clear how some of these old ways had remained in Ireland well into the 20th Century.
In ancient times, it celebrated the wedding of the sun god Lugh to Mother Earth. It was a time of gathering, games and joining together to reinforce the identity and strength of the community. Still in the "light half" of the year, it was considered the best time for marriages.
This is a courting song of daring, in which a man and woman challenge each other to do the impossible - ultimately an invitation to explore all the other possibilities.
Rosemary Faire LYRICS
HE SINGS:
You may go down to Rosemary Faire
Every rose grows merry and fine
Pick me out then the finest girl there
And I shall make her a true lover of mine.
SHE SINGS:
Tell him to find me an acre of land
Every rose grows merry and fine
Between the salt water and the sea strand
Or he'll never be a true lover of mine.
HE:
Tell her to send me a carembrick shirt
Every rose grows merry and fine
Made without needle or needlework
Or she cannot be a true lover of mine.
SHE:
Tell him to bring it to Rosemary Faire
Every rose grows merry and fine
When he arrives there'll be nobody there
And he'll never be a true lover of mine.
9. The Parting
Voluntary or involuntary, the movement between two worlds usually involves a parting. This piece expresses that part of ourselves that keeps us from letting go.
In ancient times, it was the duty of the harpers to evoke certain emotions: laughter (geantraí), sorrow (goltraí) and/or sleep (suantraí). This song falls into the goltraí category.
10. Jezebel Carol
Traditionally, carols were sung at all ceremonies and feasts, not just at Christmas time. This carol invokes all those times when we cross invisible barriers, with an optimistic sense of a serendipitous journey, when we don't quite know what surprises lie in store.
11. Across the Universe (John Lennon-Paul McCartney) Not included for sale.
I love John Lennon and this for me is one of the most beautiful songs ever written reflecting the anchoring of the true self despite all that is coming to be and passing away.
John once said, “he who is not busy being born is busy dying.” The old Irish might have said “we are all busy being born And dying.” And in this he reflects that beautifully.
Our ancestors paid attention to the world around them, light to dark, night to day, birth to death - all part of life’s vital system, half of which is dying, the other half coming to full life.
Nothing reflects this view so beautifully as the Celtic spirals we now see on Celtic jewelry.
12. Sleep Song
Parallel to the quarter days, the old Irish believed the day was also divided into four; Dawn, Midday, Dusk and Midnight. Dawn and dusk were especially important since these were times of “betweenness,” passageways that joined that which was coming to be with all that was leaving.
In the ancient harp tradition, this song belongs in the sauntraí category.songs of sleep, played expressly so as to guide us to that otherworld of sleep and dreams.
This is a hugely popular song in the tradition of Táimse mó Chodladh (I am Asleep).
