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Gentle Maiden, The (An Maigdean Ceannsa)
Traditional melody- Irish (originally), Slow Air (6/8 time); American, Waltz.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Melody early 1800’s; Lyrics early 1900’s;
RECORDING INFO: F&W Records 4, "The Canterbury Country Orchestra Meets the F&W String Band." Front Hall FHR-023, Michael, McCreesh & Campbell - "The Host of the Air" (1980). Green Linnet SIF-1084, Eugene O'Donnell - "The Foggy Dew" (1988). Biehl, Chuck. Some for Love and Some for laughs, Biehl END 201, LP (1983), cut#B.03a; Bok, Gordon;, Ann Mayo Muir & Ed Trickett. Ways of Man, Folk Legacy FSI-068, LP (1978), cut#2.05a; Doherty, Huntley and Johnson. Saturday at the Market, Whammadiddle WD-001, Cas (1987), cut#A.04; Mill Run Dulcimer Band. Sweet Songs from Yesterday, Mill Run MRDB 103, LP (1984), cut#B.04; O'Donnell, Eugene; and James MacCafferty. Foggy Dew, Green Linnet SIF 1084C, Cas (1988), cut# 2b; Smith, Betty. For My Friends of Song, June Appal JA 0018, LP (1977), cut# 10
OTHER NAMES: "When the South Wind Blows," "Is Fada Annso Me" (I am a long time here), "It is my deep sorrow," "The Bare-Headed Poor Old Man," "Owen Coir."
SOURCES: Bunting (1840) gives two titles for the tune, one in Irish and one in English; O'Sullivan (1983) suggests the original words were in Irish from a note in Bunting's MS. The variants "It is my deep sorrow" and "Owen Coir" are to be found in the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society (volume X, pgs. 10 and 21, respectively), while the variant "The Bare-Headed Poor Old Man" is from a MS of Bunting's (MS 5, pg. 52 & MS 12, book I). The Irish collector Edward Bunting obtained the melody from Miss Murphy of Dublin in 1839. Laufman (Okay, Let's Try a Contra, Men on the Right, Ladies on the Left, Up and Down the Hall), 1973; pg. 23. Matthiesen (Waltz Book I), 1992; pg. 25. O'Neill (1850), 1979; No. 282, pg. 49. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 148, pg. 205 (appears as "Is Fada Annso Me").
NOTES: G Major. Standard. AB (Laufman, O'Neill): AA'BB' (Matthiesen). A song set to the melody was recorded by John McCormick in 1940 and later by Frank Patterson.
There's one that is a pure as an angel,
As fair as the flowers of May,
They call her the gentle maiden
Wherever she takes her way.
Her eyes have the glance of sunlight,
As it brightens the blue sea wave
And more than the deep sea treasure
The love of her heart I crave.
Though parted afar from my darling,
I dream of her everywhere,
The sound of her voice is about me,
The spell of her presence there.
And whether my prayers be granted,
Or whether she passes me by,
The face of the gentle maiden
Will follow me till I die.
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