ORAN NA MAIGHDINN - MHARA,
"The Mermaid's Song", is a melancholy Gaelic song of lost love
between a mermaid and a mortal youth. The mermaid laments, "It
was with falsehood you beguiled me; sleep is restless when the sea is
troublesome. Last night I was in
Corrievrackan, tomorrow I'll be in Iona. Look out on the bottom of
the ocean; a shimmering that no eye can see in the court of the king's
castle."
Tales of mermaids, and of love between mermaid and mortal are common in
the Scottish folklore tradition, though not all so tragic as that of the
mermaid who fell in love with a young shepherd on an island off the west
coast of Scotland. After a time the youth tired of his
sea-maiden, and came no more to the rocky shore where they had so often
met. Day after day, the mermaid waited for her faithless lover in
vain. Eventually, her heart broken, she dashed herself to pieces
against the entrance arch of a cave which she had loved to haunt
in the days of her happiness. The arch, it is said, bears grim
witness to the tragedy - the clear impression, in dull red, of the
mermaid's form.
Special thanks go to : Jim Sutherland for the use of keyboards; Dave
Gromley for the bodhráns; Herschel and Sarah Freeman; Ben David and wee
Molly; Peter for his invaluable patience in the studio; Rosie Martin for
her relaxed way, which is a tonic for us all; Maggie for all her sterling
work on and off the road; Detlef and Florian at Bremer Konzertbüro.
THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS:
Roy Gullane: guitar, vocals
Phil Smillie: flute, whistles, bodhran, vocals
Les Wilson: bouzouki, keyboards, vocals
John Martin: fiddle, viola, vocals
Kenny Forsyth: highland bagpipes, Scottish small pipes, whistles
Recorded at Pier House Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1992. Engineered by Peter Haigh. Mixed by Peter Haigh and Phil Smillie. Produced by the Tannahill Weavers.
Available as GLCD 1121 from:
Green Linnet Records
43 Beaver Brook Road
Danbury, CT 06810 USA
tel. 203-730-0333 and 800-468-6644
