Songs of the Scribe

“Uniquely delightful… a totally absorbing experience” – Seamus Heaney on ‘Songs of the Scribe’

March 7, 2012

Seamus Heaney has written his thoughts on ‘Songs of the Scribe’, which you can read below:

‘Songs of the Scribe’ is a uniquely delightful work, because of the beauty of the singing and the accompanying bell tones and bowl tones; because of the sweetness and sureness and clarity of the voice and voicing; because of the way the integrity of the verse line is respected; because of the singer’s at-homeness with the poems, in the music and in the modes. Naturally I am proud and privileged to have my translations included and to be linked into the whole enterprise so significantly. The notes to the poems are unostentatiously authoritative and the variety of treatment – as in the different renderings of Ciaran Carson’s blackbird and mine, or the chant mode of the Amergin vision, or the kept accent of ‘Pangur Ban’ – makes listening a totally absorbing experience.
Seamus Heaney

You can listen to My Mind’s Desire featuring Pádraigín on vocals and Helen Davies on harp from ‘Songs of the Scribe’ below.

About Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin

Of County Armagh and Louth parentage, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin was raised in an Irish speaking family of eight. She is a multifaceted traditional artist: a professional singer since 1999 and a researcher, song writer, author and composer.