Leanaí L​í​r

from The Oaks That Still Stand by Dave Carroll

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about

Tells the story of the Children of Lír, not the King Lear of Shakespeare, but he of ancient Irish legend dating back to 1500BC. The writing of this song arose initially out of a fascination with the tenderness shown by the wild swans towards the human children in their plight. But the way the tale resolves in the joining of the mountains can also be read as a simple allegory for the re-unification of Ireland.

lyrics

Fado, Fado in Éirinn there lived Lír, a noble King
Who worshipped his four children as the flowers of the Spring
But great as was his love for them e’en greater was the hate
Of their stepmother, Aoife, who resolved to seal their fate

So riv’n with jealousy was Lír's barren second wife
That to be rid of the children she determined with her life:
She took them to Loch Darbhreach and raised her rowan wand
And with twisted Druid’s magic she turned them into swans-

And with a fearful wail she cried
“Three hundred years upon the Loch, three hundred on the sea,
and then again three hundred on the Western Ocean be-
and none shall hear but sad songs from the white swan’s human mouth
till the Old Man from the North joins with the Woman from the South”


Now the Old Man and the Woman were two mountains far apart;
To know he could not join them all but broke the old king’s heart-
He knew that time was running out: three hundred soon would come,
When he would have to bid farewell to his beloved swans.

Throughout the land the story spread of Aoife’s evil bent
And people came from far and wide to hear the swans’ lament;
So too, their wilder brethren came flying on feral wings
To comfort their new relatives and hear Fionnuala sing

And with a tearful sigh she sang
“Three hundred years upon the Moyle, we are condemned to be,
and then again three hundred on the wild Atlantic Sea;
and none shall hear but sad songs from the white swan’s human mouth
till the Old Man from the North joins with the Woman from the South”

Then came the day beside the Loch, all Éirinn was in tears;
The spell would keep them out at sea for yet six hundred years;
But as the swans were leaving all eyes were turned on high
As the wild ones in their millions formed a flock across the sky.

A bridge they made from beak-to-tail across old King Lír's land
And in between two mountains the hundred miles were spanned
And joy welled in the eyes of those who’d come to bid farewell
To see the swans take human form and cast off Aoife’s spell

And so with jubilation in their hearts were
All of King Lír's children set free from the witch’s curse,
She was banished for eternity: her punishment was worse.
Now none shall hear but happy songs from the Moyle to County Louth
Since the Old Man from the North joined with the Woman from the South

credits

from The Oaks That Still Stand, released December 12, 2016

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Dave Carroll England, UK

Dave Carroll is a composer and singer-songwriter with wide experience in Classical, Rock and Folk music. Well known in Birmingham’s vibrant rock scene of the 1970s he was for many years a resident guitarist with The Royal Shakespeare Company, later co-founded the alternative folk trio 'Soundboard' and now composes, collaborates and occasionally performs in a little mountain town in Canada. ... more

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