School: Cuan an Bhainigh (Bannow)

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1. Local Song - Bannow's Bright Blue Bay (continued)

   

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   and all the merry making town, full many a feast did fill, The stormy sea alsong it b roke and since that fatal day, the buried city never worke, beneath that bright blue day, and now they say that it doth lie, beneath its shroud of foam, and to mourn their ancient city's loss, the peasants love to roam, and often in the eventime, those phantom streets they say, are seen beneath the tranquil waves of Bannow's broight blue bay.
   I've roamed through many an Irish scene, where nature fairest dwells though woodland scenes and valleys green, through mountain, lakes and fells, but fresher far my memory keeps, one place more loved than they, Where Bannow's buried city sleeps beneath that bright blue bay.
   Written from Mrs Synnott, Brandane. Aged 80. July 1936.
   This poem has been handed down through generations and is sung to modification of "the harp that once". Its lines enshrine the tradition that Bannow's city has
   been buried beneath the waves. It is believed that the city "lives" one night annually in all its glory

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. genre
      1. poetry
         1. folk poetry (~9,504)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Mrs Synnott

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   80

   Address

   Brandane, Co. Wexford