Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this Fairy Poem
Take a journey with the Fairy Folk as they ride through the night skies on crimson moths with bridle bells and watch the children fall asleep. A lovely, lyrical poem to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. (duration – 5 minutes) An episode from the storytelling podcast, Journey with Story.
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Transcript
So what do you think about fairies? Have you ever seen a fairy? What do you think they might look like?
Hello everyone, I ‘m Kathleen Pelley. Welcome to Journey with Story. This month, many people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. ST. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland because he brought Christianity to the ancient Irish people. But…St Patrick himself was born in Scotland and later, he was kidnapped by pirates and kept as a slave on the coast of Ireland. One of the reasons St. Patrick was able to bring Christianity to the Irish people, was that the Irish already believed in other worlds – such as the fairy world, and so it was easy for them to believe in a God and in a heaven that they could not see.
Both the Scots and the Irish love stories about the fairy folk, and so today’s episode is actually a Scottish poem about fairies – there’s a Scottish word you might not know– bairnies – that is just another word for little children.
Oh, this episode is dedicated to one of our new Unicorn patreon Subscribers –Christian from Hingham in MA, and Christian recently had a birthday on February 15th – he turned 6 years old – Happy Belated Birthday to you, Christian. Thank you for being such a loyal listener. Your mum tells me you love listening to some of our podast episodes over and over, like Rapunzel and the Caterpillar’s voice – that makes me happy !
Okay, so now let’s stay very, very quiet, because you know the one thing fairies cannot bear is – Noise. So hush, hush and gather close and…
Let’s take a journey with The Fairy Folk by Robert Bird
Come cuddle close in daddy’s coat
Beside the fire so bright,
And hear about the fairy folk
That wander in the night.
For when the stars are shining clear
And all the world is still,
They float across the silver moon
From hill to cloudy hill.
Their caps of red, their cloaks of green,
Are hung with silver bells,
And when they’re shaken with the wind
Their merry ringing swells.
And riding on the crimson moth,
With black spots on her wings,
They guide them down the purple sky
With golden bridle rings.
They love to visit girls and boys
To see how sweet they sleep,
To stand beside their cosey cots
And at their faces peep.
For in the whole of fairy-land
They have no finer sight
Than little children sleeping sound
With faces rosy bright.
On tip-toe crowding round their heads,
When bright the moonlight beams,
They whisper little tender words
That fill their minds with dreams;
And when they see a sunny smile,
With lightest finger tips
They lay a hundred kisses sweet
Upon the ruddy lips.
And then the little spotted moths
Spread out their crimson wings,
And bear away the fairy crowd
With shaking bridle rings.
Come, bairnies, hide in daddy’s coat,
Beside the fire so bright –
Perhaps the little fairy folk
Will visit you to-night.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day and happy Fairy Hunting! If this poem painted any pictures in your mind of fairies, be sure and share with me on IG at journey with story.
Hope you enjoyed this special episode dedicated to you, Christian!
Cheerio then, join me next time for –Journey with Story.
Oh, and thanks so much to all of you who have been writing such great reviews for this podcast – we are ever so grateful to you. If you are loving this podcast, please consider subscribing, reviewing and sharing it with others. And you might even want to subscribe to our patreon and get some great perks, like coloring sheets, stickers and much more at www.journeywithstory.com
Cheerio then, join me next time for Journey with Story.
