Welcome to the digital portion of Samhuinn 2022. If you’re one who enjoys celebrating Samhuinn and for whatever reason cannot venture over to Holyrood Park this year for the festival, fear not! As the year turns into its colder months, our friends at Tales From The Hearth are bundling up mystical songs, poems and legends to bring the season’s festivities to you.

Keep your eye our 2022 digital festival from now until Halloween eve, as we will continue sharing the otherworldly characters, emotions and elements that bring forward Winter’s uprising.

Mo Luaidh Mo Leanabh (My Beloved, My Child)

As the summer dies and winter grips the land, cold and hunger are a reality for many people. This was true in the past and it is also true today.

In this traditional Gaelic song, a single mother expresses her fears for herself and her child.

O hì o hà my beloved my child

I was shamed when I was young

My Beloved, My Child

English Translation

O hì o hà my beloved my child
O hù a hò my beloved my child
O hì o hà my beloved my child
I was shamed when I was young

I often have tears on my cheek since I was shamed
But what increased my shame was that you weren’t baptised
The enormity of that will stay with you forever
Being for so long an unbaptised boy

O hì o hà my beloved my child
O hù a hò my beloved my child
O hì o hà my beloved my child
I was shamed when I was young

I was a light gentle maiden
With blushing cheeks, and men had affection for me
I grew up as soon as I could
And as a young girl I wouldn’t remain unmarried

O hì o hà my beloved my child
O hù a hò my beloved my child
O hì o hà my beloved my child
I was shamed when I was young

My advice that I would give, but never received
To a gifted, gentle, meek girl would be
For her not to give so much love to her chosen
Especially as quickly as happened to me

O hì o hà my beloved my child
O hù a hò my beloved my child
O hì o hà my beloved my child
I was shamed when I was young

Video Credits

Singer : Alice Dillon
Video, sound recording and editing : Ludwing Perez
Filmed location : The Lost Close, Edinburgh.

Am Pìobaire ‘s an Sìthiche (The Piper and the Fae)

This is a traditional Gaelic story about a young man from a family of pipers who couldn’t play at all until he met a fae (sìthiche*) and made a bargain: to exchange a kiss for the ability to be a great piper.

*Sìthiche are said to live underground, alongside people, but remain hidden unless they decide to be seen. They are said to be more active at times of transition, such as Beltane and Samhuinn. Sometimes they can be helpful, but sometimes they are dangerous and should always be treated with respect. Holding something made of iron (as the young man does in this story) acts as protection against the sìthiche.

Video Credits

Story written and performed by : Adam Dahmer
Young Man / Piper: Logan Donald
Strange Man / Fae : Jaz Rogers
Photos : Nicky Saunders and Eli Roth
Editing : Nicky Saunders

S Ann An Ile

Outside the cold of winter is biting, but inside we can enjoy the company of friends and a
good Scottish whisky or two over a song.

This traditional Gaelic song is about the island of Islay off the coast of Scotland, famous for its scenery and heavily peated whisky.

Video Credits

Singers : Alice Dillon, Elliot Parrot, Ania Janeczko, David John Pitts, Ludwing Perez & Nicky
Saunders.
Waiter : Nicky Saunders
Video and sound recording : Ludwing Perez & Paul AJ Hamilton
Editing : Ludwing Perez
Filmed at : The Lost Close, Edinburgh.

The Ruin

This poem, The Ruin was found as a manuscript fragment dating from the 8th or 9th Century CE.

The unknown author explores a ruin from a much earlier time, presumed to be the
remains of a Roman town.

As Summer ends and we face the bleak cold of Winter, this poem looks back on what is
lost and half forgotten.

Ruin transcript

Wonderous are these walls, broken by fate
Courtyard pavements smashed
The work of giants decayed
The roofs have rushed to earth

Towers in ruins
Ice has broken the barred gates
The scarred storm walls have disappeared
The years have gnawed them from beneath

The builders are gone
Perished and fallen
Held in the hard grip of the earth

While one hundred generations have passed by
These walls, lichen grey and stained with rust
Saw one kingdom after another rise and fall
Still the stones remain.

The halls of the city once were bright
There were many bath houses
High roofs, and mead halls filled with human joy

Then days of calamity arrived
Death seized all the stout swordsmen
Plagues came
The city steads perished

And so these buildings fall into the ground
Where once many men, glad minded and gold bright

Gleaming, proud and flushed with wine
Could look upon treasures
In this bright fortress of a broad kingdom

Video Credits

Poem : The Ruin, by an anonymous 8th Century author
Poem adapted by : Nicky Saunders
Based on translations by : Kevin Crossley-Holland, Dr. Aaron K. Hostetter, Bob Hazenfratz
Filming : Graham Clark
Edited : Nicky Saunders
Sound effects : Windy Spring Forest Noises – Spanac · https://www.freesoundslibrary.com

Tales from the hearth: ORIGIN STORY

Tales From The Hearth was formed in 2020 when lockdown forced the Beltane Fire Festival to become an online event. We tell the traditional Celtic and European folktales that form the background of the traditions of Beltane and Samhuinn. We tell stories in both English and Gaelic languages.

Our festivals may be back in person but we help keep the stories alive online for those who are unable to attend the fire festivals in Scotland.

Wherever you are in the world, please listen to our tales, embracing the sounds and characters of the new season before us.