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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Oh hush my dove, oh hush thee my rowan,
Oh hush my lapwing, my little brown bird.
Oh fold thy wing and seek thy nest now,
Oh shine the berry on the bright tree,
The bird is home from the mountain and valley.
Oh hush thee my birdie, my pretty dear one.
Oh hush my dove, oh hush thee my rowan,
Oh hush my lapwing, my little brown bird.
Oh fold thy wing and seek thy nest now,
Oh shine the berry on the bright tree,
The bird is home from the mountain and valley.
Oh hush thee my birdie, my pretty dear one.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
The Manx Lullaby is a traditional song from the Isle of Man, the small island in the Irish Sea that sits between Britain and Ireland and has its own distinct Celtic culture, language (Manx Gaelic), and musical tradition.
The lullaby addresses the child entirely through bird imagery: dove, rowan (a small songbird), lapwing, little brown bird. This extended metaphor is characteristic of Celtic lullabies, in which the child is identified with a bird — a creature that belongs to the sky but must come to rest, that is wild but tender, that must fold its wings and return to the nest each evening.
The imagery of the rowan tree is significant in Celtic tradition, where the rowan (or mountain ash) was considered a protective tree, its red berries a charm against evil spirits. A child compared to a rowan-berry is being placed within a tradition of natural protection and beauty.
The Isle of Man's musical tradition draws on both Gaelic and Norse influences — the island was a Norse kingdom until 1266 — and the Manx Lullaby carries traces of both: the bird imagery and verbal lyricism of the Celtic world, and the spare, emotional directness of the Norse.
Our arrangement gives this beautiful and little-known lullaby the attention it deserves.
