Peerie Flooers

I know it seems strange for an old southern state quail like me to have a blog named Peerie Flooers. But I am a bit strange. When Kate Davies posted her GORGEOUS pattern, Peerie Flooers, I was taken with the phrase as much as the design. I went looking online for more Scottish Gaelic.  What I found was A Shetland Cradle Song and it grabbed my heart hard. Speaking psychologically, it addresses my darkest. As, I suppose, all really good lullabies and fairy tales will. Moreover, my eleven year old daughter loves it too.

Sometimes when she is in a good mood you can hear her singing, awa upstairs, alone to herself. "Hush-a-baa-baa, my peerie flooer..." Her voice is so fresh, light, and dear it breaks stouter hearts than mine. The men in our lives love the song, sure. My husband laughed in his good natured way the first time I played it for him, as I brushed off a couple of tears. Though he lacks a need to hear it over and over and over again, as does our son. But me and the girl find comfort in repetition and perhaps we hear in the song Grandmothers long past?

If you spend a lot of time replaying the song while staring at the Scottish and English translations, it becomes a nice unit study of not only Gaelic, but also how to learn a language. So that works well for our school.

And then there is this. We are Gaelic, the O'Groomes from county Cork (Contae Chorcaí) Ireland. Groometown is still a thriving community, full of our ancestors working right down the road. And my children come by it honestly from both sides of their heritage. I'll have to look up my husband's old family name and from exactly whence they come. Grandpa Tom knows. He's working on Irish citizenship these days. Here's to the hinterlands, the ancestors, a wooly woven thread of time and love, and small flowers every day.

A Shetland Cradle Song: 

Da boatie sails an da boatie rowes,

Dey set der sails an dey hail der towes, Hush-a-baa-baa, my peerie lamb, Dy faider is comin awa fae fram. Da sheep dey baa, an da craws dey craw, Dey flap der wings an dey flee awa, Hush-a-baa-baa, me peerie flee, Auld Daa'll be comin wi shalls tae dee. Da burnie rins an da burnie rowes Da lambs dey dance ower da haider-towes, Hush-a-ba-ba, me peerie dear, Dey'll naebody hurt dee whin Mam is near. Da laverick lifts an he sings tae aa, Da winter comes wi da cauld an snaw, Hush-a-baa-baa, my peerie flooer, Lang Wullie is löin ahint da door. Da mares dey böl an da kye come heem, We lay wis doon i' da Gödie's neem, Hush-a-ba-ba, ma peerie ting, He covers wis aw wi His holy wing.

Gordon Lightfoot:  The Sea of Tranquility

I live in the light of the bright silver moon

I'll take you off sailing from midnight till noon

I'll show the Sea of Tranquility

You can have any flavor you happen see

I live in the shade of a forest of green

In the wildest of woodlands that you've ever seen

There's rabbits and quail and tender young snails

As brown as the seaweed on old rusty nails

There's fireflies dancing in the cool evening breeze
There's love and romancin' as nice as you please
There's otters and frogs and spotted ground hogs
And wiley old weasels in rotted out logs

There's rivers of rainbow and grey mountain trout
And little dark holes where the varmints hang out
There's foxes and hares in traps and in snares
And lots of bald eagles so you'd better take care

So if you've got the time and you'd like to pass by
Come down around midnight and give us a try
We'll show you the Sea of Tranquility
You can have any flavor you happen to see