THE BRIDAL WAKE.

BY GERALD GRIFFIN.

`- Proofing in Progress -`

The priest stood at the marriage board,
  The marriage cake was made,
With meat the marriage chest was stored,
  Decked was the marriage bed.
The old man sat beside the fire,
  The mother sat by him,
The white bride was in gay attire,
  But her dark eye was dim.
                    Ululah!  Ululah!
The night falls quick, the sun is set,
Her love is on the water yet.

I saw a red cloud in the west,
  Against the morning light,
Heaven shield the youth that she loves best
  From evil chance to-night.
The door flings wide!  loud moans the gale,
  Wild fear her bosom fills,
It is, it is the Banshee's wail!
  Over the darkened hills.
                    Ululah!  Ululah!
The day is past!  the night is dark!
The waves are mounting round his bark.

The guests sit round the bridal bed,
  And break the bridal cake;
But they sit by the dead man's head,
  And hold his wedding wake.
The bride is praying in her room,
  The place is silent all!
A fearful call!  a sudden doom!
  Bridal and funeral.
                    Ululah!  Ululah!
A youth to Kilfiehera [1] 's ta'en,
That never will return again.

Notes

Kilfiehera The name of a churchyard near Kilkee.

Previous: Earl Desmond and the Banshee

Next: The Keen

Denis Florence MacCarthy Homepage

MacCarthy, Denis Florence (1817-1882), ed. The Book of Irish Ballads. Dublin: James Duffy, 1869.

The above published source is public domain under the terms of
Title 17, United States Code, Section 304(b).
The transcriber does not claim to know the copyright status of this publication outside of the United States.

Published in 1999 by Dennis McCarthy
No Rights Reserved! I release this file to the public domain.
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The Book of Irish Ballads