The Art Of Forgetting

Siubhail A Rùin

Sios Dhan An Abhainn

For Your Journey

Evelyna

Trouble In The Fields

A new song to share with you. My dear friend Guillermo López Alonso De Linaje asked me to write a song about his two wonderful daughters Xènia and Aina. 

The only requirements were that his daughters be princesses (and rightfully so!), so I ran with that theme and wrote a feminist fairytale on my baritone uke. 

The princesses save a prince in this tale, and I wove in influences of Scottish and Irish mythology, as well as 'wild west' turns of phrase to make my fairytale as 'Gaelic Americana' as possible. I've included lyrics and annotations to the folkloric influences below. 

Thank you for trusting me with this Guillermo! 

Dreams Alight  

for Guillermo, and his extraordinary princesses Xènia and Aina 

Fairytale to fable, 
once upon a dream, 
two headstrong sisters,
reckoned with the sìth.*

Xènia said to Aina, 
the hour draws near, 
to lay aside our thimbles,*
and steal away from here. 

Chorus 
Golden spurs, 
for dancing heels. 
Chestnut steed, 
for carriage…

We’ll leave our silk and satin, 
muddied on the floor.*
Crowns atop the mantel, 
slippers by the door. 

Deep and shadowed forest, 
you and I will brave, 
with quivered bow and arrow,*
to hunt the fae folk’s stag.*

Chorus 
Woven chain, 
for daisy springs. 
Hammered steel, 
for corset…

String of failed heroics, 
neither knight nor page, 
braved one twilit hour, 
beyond the castle gates. 

‘Till  Xènia chose the arrow, 
and Aina drew it near,  
to strike with steel conviction, 
the sìth’s enchanted deer. 

Light broke through the treetops, 
antler gave to curl. 
Shank to silken kerchief, 
upon a throat of pearl. 

Cursed to rut and ramble,* 
‘till by woman felled. 
Two sisters freed the wood prince, 
from the fairy’s spell. 

Chorus
Make it known,* 
to your maidens all.  
Dreams alight, 
where decorum falls. 

*In both Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic the sìth are the supernatural fairy folk who often meddle in the lives of humans. 

*By using ‘thimble’ here I wanted to subtly refer to the wonderful shape-shifting Child Ballad ‘Tam Lin’, a song that also has a female heroine. 

*This verse alludes to M.M. Kaye’s wonderful novel, ‘The Ordinary Princess’–one of my favorites as a child. 

*This verse alludes to the child’s picture book ‘Young Guinevere’ by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jamichael Henterly. As a young girl this was the most enchanting picture book I had ever seen. 

* ‘Fae’ is another word for the ‘sìth’ or the fairy folk. 

*A carefully chosen word to lend a little ‘Americana’ to a very Gaelic fairy tale. 

*In this final verse I wanted to allude to the ’Come All Ye Maidens’ ballads, which often functioned as warnings to women on how to behave properly and avoid danger and/or a ruined reputation. By writing a feminist fairytale, I wanted to turn that tired old trope on its head.

Kyle Carey

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