It was the story which gripped my mind. I do not remember it at all clearly except the bare bones:
There were two sisters; one - let's call her Catriona - had a lover that the other - let's call her Fiona - coveted. So while Catriona fell asleep at the low tide edge, Fiona tied her hair to the rocks. The tide inevitably came in, and Fiona walked off with the lover.
I cannot remember enough details to google effectively, so have not been able to track down the folk song, or the tale. I keep trying at odd moments, but meanwhile the worm has been at work in my mind. The seaweed on the shores of the Outer Hebrides provided the hair.
Olga, this piece is so beautiful, it brings tears to my eyes. I had to look for the song and think I found it:
ReplyDeleteThe Cruel Sister
The Cruel Sister
There lived a lady by the North Sea shore
Two daughters were the babes she bore
One grew as fair as in the sun
So cold, dark, grew the elder one
A knight came riding to the ladies' door
He travelled far to be their wooer
He courted one with gloves and rings
But the other he loved above all things
"Oh, sister, sister won't you walk with me
To see the ships sail o'er sea"
And as they walked the windy shore
The dark girl pushed her sister o'er
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
Crying "Sister, reach to me your hand
Oh sister, sister please let me live
And all that's mine I'll surely give
"It's your own true love I want, and more
That thou shalt never come ashore"
And as she floated like a swan
The salt sea bore her body on
Two minstrels walked by the windy strand
They saw her body float to land
They made a harp of her breast bone
Who's sound would melt a heart of stone
They took three strands of her yellow hair
And with them strung this harp so rare
They took this harp to her father's hall
There to play before them all
But when they set the harp upon a stone
It began to play alone
The first song sang a doleful sound
"The bride her younger sister drowned"
The second string, when this they tried
In terror sits the black haired bride
The third string sang beneath their bow
"And now her tears will surely flow"
Child #10
version by David Webb
The Twa Sisters, of course, but odd. AJS
AJS
oct97 - http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Cruel_Sister.htm
Susan Sawatzky, Port Townsend, WA
Hello Susan. Thank you for your comment - and I'm so grateful that you found this song. Perhaps I'll finally track down the version I heard through it.
DeleteFurther to Susan's research I have found a reference to the version - or a version of the version I probably heard. Google Books found me page 50 of The Ballad and Oral Literature where there is a quote from Shields: Old British Ballads in Ireland
ReplyDeleteTwo women were down at the shore gathering dulse or carrageen (edible seaweed) one time. And both of them were after the one man. And she would have liked to get rid of the other woman, and she didn’t know the best thing to do. One of the women had three children and the other had none, and she was after the woman’s husband. And she wanted to get rid of the woman. And she didn’t know the best thing to do. And when she got a chance – the woman’s hair was long, and she tied it to the seaweed that was floating on the rock and left her there until she was drowned.
I am so grateful to Susan for pointing me in what now is obviously the right direction. I seem to get myself in a muddle when researching things with google.
I also found this YouTube sung version which I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlB_QPMUWmg
Pentangle perhaps ?
ReplyDeleteHello Linda - it's a while since I thought about Pentangle. It takes me back! I don't know who the singer was that I heard, but she was a soloist. I'm not looking for her, but shall now go back to remind myself of Pentangle's songs.
Delete