Happy St. Patrick's Day!

             May the road rise up to meet you,

           May the wind be always at your back

           May the sun shine warm upon your face,

          May the rains fall soft upon your fields,

          And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~Traditional Irish Blessing

                     

May brooks and trees and singing hills

Join in the chorus too,

And every gentle wind that blows

Send happiness to you.

~Traditional Irish Blessing



      Happy St. Patrick's Day, my dear friends! :-) I hope you all have a delightful day doing whatever it is people do on St. Patrick's Day! I like to use this day as an excuse to indulge in my love of all things Irish and I am currently celebrating by listening to Dolores Keane's version of my favorite song, Down by the Salley Gardens.

          Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet

She crossed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet

She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the trees

But I, being young and foolish, and with her could not agree.

In a field down by the river my love and I did stand

And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand

She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs

But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears. 



    I absolutely loooovvvvee Irish and Celtic music, and a lot of my favorite songs are traditional Irish ballads, like this one....

    And this one....

   And this one....

   

    (You may recognize this song from Cranford-- it's the one Jack Marshland sings at the ladies' Christmas party.)

  For the great Gaels of Ireland

Are the men that God made mad,

For all their wars are merry,

And all their songs are sad.

~G.K. Chesterson

       This quote made me giggle, because it's so true! Ireland does have a very tragic history, and a lot of their songs are very sad. This is the most tragical song I have ever heard:

   It's soooooo saaaadddd!!!!! :-(

     And now let's have something a bit brighter. :-)



 Oh dear, that's not much brighter, is it? Hmm. How about this one:

    There, that's better, isn't it? :-)

    I'm not sure if this song is actually Irish, but I love this version sung by Lisa Kelley of Celtic Woman:

     And do I have to say yet again that I adore their dresses? No? Yes, I assumed you already knew. :-P

     I am only part Irish, and the greater part of my heritage is Swedish, but I feel like I'm Irish at heart. At least for today, anyway. Hehee. :-)

  Deep peace of the running waters to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the smiling stars to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

~Traditional Gaelic Prayer

   I am going to celebrate the day by drinking tea, wearing green, listening to Celtic Woman, and watching Downton Abbey later this evening. :-)



       (Soary, I couldn't resist. :-P Actually, I'm not sure I endorse this: as dashing as Branson is, he can be quite a handful!)


     Have a lovely St. Patrick's Day, my friends! :-)