and every day is a warm endless gold afternoon

[timeripple]

Whoa. Have just finished The Tower at Stony Wood. Am somewhat numb. That was weird! I must re-read.



Thayne Ysse, you twerp! You turned your brother over to the dragon in the end after all! Even if you did figure things out eventually. Poor Craiche, he doesn't understand, nobody tells him anything, and everybody wants him for their own nefarious purposes! At least, that's what we're supposed to think. He's just so... so... gah, lost for words. And that was one strange dragon. Talk about manipulative beings with god-like powers! *sigh* Oh, how I love this book. I think. Melanthos and Sel are way cool. But I think Anyon is another of those who just doesn't get it, although he's all right. Cyan Dag, the other hand, is totally my hero.

Temperatures are in the mid-90's F and rising. Have found some lyrics for MacCrimmon's Lament. It remains to be seen if they're reputable, but since the source had both the Gaelic and a translation, I'm inclined to think favorably of them.

Comments

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

*giggle* That's great stuff. Break out the grog! Or Gatorade, which probably tastes a lot better, come to think of it.

[(Anonymous)]

new shanty!!!! the version i learned was shorter & was slightly different. don't remember the tune either. :(

anywho, here it is:

Paddy, Lay Back

'Twas a cold an' dreary mornin' in December, (December)
An' all of me money it was spent (it was spent),
Where it went to Lord I can't remember (remember),
So down to the shippin' office went, (went, went),

Paddy, lay back (Paddy, lay back)!
Take in yer slack (take in yer slack)!
Take a turn around the capstan - heave a pawl - heave a pawl!
'Bout ship, stations, boys, be handy (be handy)!
Raise tacks, sheets, an' mains'l haul!

Alternative final line of chorus:
For we're bound for Valaparaiser 'round the Horn!

That day there wuz a great demand for sailors (for sailors),
For the Colonies and for 'Frisco and for France (an' for France),
So I shipped aboard a Limey barque the Hotspur (the Hotspur),
An' got paralytic drunk on my advance ('vance, 'vance),

Now I joined her on a cold December mornin',
A-frappin' o' me flippers to keep me warm.
With the south cone a-hoisted as a warnin',
To stand by the comin' 0' a storm.

Now some of our fellers had bin drinkin',
An' I meself wuz heavy on the booze;
An' I wuz on me ol' sea-chest a-thinkin'
I'd turn into me bunk an' have a snooze.

I woke up in the mornin' sick an' sore,
An' knew I wuz outward bound again;
When I heard a voice a-bawlin' at the door,
'Lay aft, men, an' answer to yer names!'

'Twas on the quarterdeck where first I saw 'em,
Such an ugly bunch I'd niver seen afore;
For there wuz a bum an' stiff from every quarter,
An' it made me poor ol' heart feel sick an' sore.

There wuz Spaniards an' Dutchmen an' Rooshians,
An' Johnny Crapoos jist acrosst from France;
An' most o' 'em couldn't speak a word o' English,
But answered to the name of 'Month's Advance'.

I wisht I wuz in the 'Jolly Sailor',
Along with Irish Kate a-drinkin' beer;
An' then I thought what jolly chaps were sailors,
An' with me flipper I wiped away a tear.

I knew that in me box I had a bottle,
By the boardin'-master 'twas put there;
An' I wanted something for to wet me throttle,
Somethin' for to drive away dull care.

So down upon me knees I went like thunder,
Put me hand into the bottom o' the box,
An' what wuz me great surprise an' wonder,
Found only a bottle o' medicine for the pox.

I felt that I should skip an' join another,
'Twas plain that I had joined a lousy bitch;
But the chances wuz that I might join a worser,
An' we might git through the voyage without a hitch.

I axed the mate a-which a-watch wuz mine-O,
Sez he, 'I'II soon pick out a-which is which';
An' he blowed me down an' kicked me hard a-stern-O,
Callin' me a lousy, dirty son-o'-a-bitch.

Now we singled up an' got the tugs alongside,
They towed us through the locks an' out to sea;
With half the crew a-pukin' o'er the ship's side,
An' the bloody fun that started sickened me.

Although me poor ol' head wuz all a-jumpin',
We had to loose her rags the followin' morn;
I dreamt the boardin'-master I wuz thumpin',
When I found out he'd sent me around the Horn.

I swore I would become a beachie-comber,
An' niver go to sea no ruddy more;
For niver did I want to be a roamer ,
I'd shanghai the boardin'-master an' stay ashore.

But when we got to bully ol' Vallaparaiser,
In the Bay we dropped our mud hook far from shore;
The ol' Man he refused ter let us raise 'er,
An' he stopped the boardin'-masters comin' aboard.

I quickly made me mind up that I'd jump 'er,
I'd leave the beggar an' git a job ashore;
I swum across the Bay an' went an' left 'er,
An' in the English Bar I found a whore.

But Jimmy the Wop he knew a thing or two, sir,
An' soon he'd shipped me outward bound again;
On a Limey to the Chinchas for guanner, boys,
An' soon was I a-roarin' this refrain.

So there wuz I once more again at sea, boys,
The same ol' ruddy business over again;
Oh, stamp the caps'n round an' make some noise, boys,
An' sing again this dear ol' sweet refrain.

-melanie

[(Anonymous)]

wow...that's, um...a long sea chanty. which is cool, but...wow. what are you supposed to be doing when you sing it? i don't think i'd want to do anything that you might sing a chanty to for that long...

i saw a small book of sea chanties in the store in inverness where i bought my fiddlebook (speaking of which, i don't remember which one i got, and i left it at home, with my fiddle :( but hopefully my mom will be sending both to me soon and then i can tell you), but i decided not to get it since i assumed i'd be learning a lot at mystic.

fiona, farenheit 911 is coming out on the 25th - go see it! i don't know how he got it distributed, but he did, and i saw the trailer (somewhere at michaelmoore.com), and it looks awesome, despite the fact that i usually don't like michael moore.

i haven't been doing much fiddling, due to my separation from my fiddle, but i've been singing a lot from the scottish songbooks i got, and there's some really exciting ones allie and i started learning in scotland that we can add to our chuffed collection :)

siena

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

what are you supposed to be doing when you sing it? i don't think i'd want to do anything that you might sing a chanty to for that long...

I would suppose one would be swabbing the deck or something equally nautical and equally tiresome. *shrug* Yeah, I wouldn't want to be doing that for that long either! :)

[(Anonymous)]

what are you supposed to be doing when you sing it?

haven't found that out yet, & yeah, that one's really long. the one i learned was much shorter & am quite sure they don't sing the entire thing. also finally remembered the tune, at least for the chorus. :)

glad to hear that everyone's doing well. one week down, 3 to go before i head out to sea!

-melanie