The Silver Bough

[David Dalton]

From http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/celtic.html :

The Silver Bough thumb

Once in 1996 or 1997 I thumbed at random a book on Scottish folklore
called The Silver Bough Vol. 1 by F. Marian McNeill. It came out to a
page with this poem on it:

Ri faicinn domh na gealaich uir,
Is duth domh mo shuil a thogail.
Is duth domh ma ghlun a leagail,
Is duth domh mo cheann a bhogadh,

Toir cliu dhuit fein, a re nan iul,
Gum faca mi thu a rithist,
Gum faca mi a ghealach ur,
Ailleagan iuil na slighe.

Is iomadh neach a chaidh a null
Eadar uine an da ghealaich,
Ged tha mise a' mealtainn fuinn,
A re nan re 's nam beannachd!

which translates as:

When I see the new moon,
It becomes me to lift mine eye,
It becomes me to bend my knee,
It becomes me to bow my head.

Giving thee praise, thou moon of guidance,
That I have seen thee again,
That I have seen the new moon,
The lovely leader of the way.

Many a one has passed beyond
In the time between the two moons,
Though I am still enjoying earth,
Thou moon of moons and of blessings!


In that, the new moon refers to the early waxing
crescent, not dark of moon.

--
David Dalton dal...@nfld.com http://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"Early morning jubilators/Up to no good instigators.../Sons of long
forgotten races/That the darkest night embraces." (Hynes/O'Doherty)