Kestrel’s Lullabye

Words by Tace of Foxele/ Ki no Kotori
Music: Blessed Be That Maid Marie (tune: Staines Morris in William Ballet’s Lute Book @1590)
http://www.santasearch.com/resources/sheetmusic/blessedbemaidmarie.html

The original “Blessed Be That Maid Marie” performed by Telynor. The song begins at the 1:40 marker.

Dedicated to Lora Ann Ros (Donna Brooks), who passed from us April 21st, 2016

Little kestrel, nestled near,
Come to rest in Calontir.
Outside dangers may abound.
We will keep you safe and sound.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Where the wild northwinds howl
Lies the land where gryphons prowl.
Paths to our home can’t be seen
In amongst the maze of green.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Eastward, dragons can be found
Rife with strength of great renown,
Past their lair they cannot creep,
The river runs too wide and deep.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

In the warm southeastern land
Lives the wild and wooly ram.
He may climb the mountains tall,
But you can fly above them all.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

On the bleak southwestern plain,
Lions wander, hunt and maim.
But they never venture far
From the light of the lonesome star.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

The mighty stag may often roam
From his westward forest home.
His legs are strong, but even he
Cannot swim the amber sea.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Little kestrel, tuck your wing
While huscarl and fyrdmen sing.
Dream sweet dreams of flying free,
And we shall watch over thee.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Notes:

1. I heard this tune on Telynor’s excellent Christmas Album Off the Beaten Path, which can be found here and also on Amazon.

2. Since the song was about a kestrel, I wanted to include other animal imagery. The animals here are the heraldic mascots of the kingdoms and principalities surrounding Calontir.

Northshield = Gryphon
Middle Kingdom = Dragon
Glenn Abheann = Ram
Ansteorra = Lion
Outlands = Stag

There was originally a verse about Meridies (Horse), but once Glenn Abheann became a kingdom, we lost our border with them, so I have removed it from the song.

3. I tried to follow the logic of an older falcon and how they would see the land, hence the “maze of green” cornfields of Iowa and the “amber sea” wheatfields of Kansas and Nebraska. From the sky, that’s what they would look like.

4. I originally wrote this for Page the Kestrel, one of Lora Ann’s birds, but changed the dedication and wrote the last line when Lora Ann died.

5. Thanks to Lora Ann for making me perform this in public when I first wrote this song. I was very scared, but she was right, I needed to sing this to an audience. 🙂

Another bardic attempt. Gained me quite a bit of infamy a few years ago. Pavel even gave me his alphabet soup. But every word of it was true!

*sees can’o’worms*

*sees can opener*

Oh, lordy, I feel like singin’….

THE IOWEGIA SONG
by Evil Bard Tace of Foxele <–now the saintly Ki no Kotori

(Tune is "Tau Garco La Durundena")*

Here is the Boston Camerata's version of the original work on YouTube so you can hear the melody:

Tell us, distant Iowegia,
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

Who thought there would ever be
Shires out past Coeur d'Ennui *1
Living there most happily *2
Frolicking among the cornfields?

Tell us, distant Iowegia,
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

No matter where you think you are
The Northern Road is twice as far *3
As you're riding in your car
The children crying "Are we there yet?"

Tell us, distant Iowegia,
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

The warriors, radiating charm, *4
Keen of eye and strong of arm,
Dealing enemies great harm,
Don't see much of Knights or Fyrdmen? *5

Tell us, distant Iowegia
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

What sane man would ever miss
The sweetness of Melissa's kiss *6
Never have we known such bliss
(The women really love it also)

Tell us, distant Iowegia
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

Rarely do we ever see
Anything like royalty *7
They're not here, where could they be?
Has anybody seen our masters?

Tell us, distant Iowegia
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

So few people want to go
On our roads of ice and snow
That's too bad, they'll never know
The sweet delights of Iowegia

Tell us, distant Iowegia
Northern Flower of Calontir
What secrets are you hiding there?

*Composer: Bartomeu Carcares as part of the larger work, La Trulla, mid-16th century Catalan, words by Evil Bard! Tace

1 Yeah! 9 groups altogether! (At the time this song was written in 2003)

2 Relatively

3 A common Iowegian proverb

4 Relatively

5 Except in Des Moines

6 A Heraldshill specialty!

7 Except in Des Moines

Man, I'm gonna be in so much trouble….

Yes, I did get into a lot of trouble, but OTOH, people still ask me to sing this song.