The Irish standard., 1904-02-20
IRISH FUNERAL CRY.
The Custom of Keening or Lamelting
Over the Bead.

|
Over the Bead.
| 1.-THE well-known custom SO long
used in Ireland, of keening, or lament
ing over the dead, is of the most re-
mote antiquity. History informs US
that it was known to the Greeks and
Romans, who, however, seem to have
| borrowed it from the Eastern nations,
among whom, probably, it had its ORR
gin; and from the Scriptures we learn
that it was practiced by the Israelites
| DIR. O'Brien tells us that the word in
the Irish language, as originally and
more correctly written, is cine, and
not, as modern orthoepists have it,
caoine; and this makes it almost iden-
tical with the Hebrew word Gina, which
signifies lamentation or weeping with
clapping of hands. The following
lament of Morian Shehone for Miss
Mary Bourke," which is literally
translated from the original Irish has
much pathos and beauty.
"Silence prevails; it is an awful
silence. The voice of Mary is heard
no longer in the valley. eyes, thou art
gone, o Mary; but Morian Shehone
will raise the song of woe, and bewail
thy fate" "Snow white was thy vir-
tue, the youths gazed on thee with
rapture, and old age listened with
pleasure to the soft music of thy
tongue" "Thy beauty was brighter
than the sun which shone around thee,
o Mary; but thy SUN is set, and has
left the soul of thy friend in darkness"
Sorrow for thee is dumb, save in the
wailings of Morian Shehone; and grief
has not yet tears to shed for Mary"
II have cried over the rich man; but
when the stone was laid upon his
grave, my grief was at an end. Not
so with my hearts darling; the grave
cannot hide Mary from the view of
Morian Shehone." "I see her in the
four corners of her habitation which
was once gilded by her presence"
'Thou didst not fall off like withered
leaf which hangs trembling and inse-
cure; no, it was rude blast which
brought thee to the dust, o Mary.
Hadst thou not friends? Hadst thou
not bread to eat, and raiment to put
on?'
"Hadst thou not youth and beauty,
Mary? Then mightest thou not have
been happy? But the spoiler came and
disordered my peace! The grim
tyrant has taken away my only support
in Mary" "In thy state of probation,
thou vert kind hearted to all, and none
envied thee thy good fortune. Oh,
that the lamentations of thy friends.
Oh, that the burning tears of Morian
Shehone could bring back from the
grave the peerless Mary" "But, alas!
this cannot be. Then twice in every
year, while the virgins of the valley
celebrate the birth and death of Mary,
under the wide-spreading elm, let her
spirit hover round them and teach
them to emulate her virtues" $50
falls into the depth of silence the la
ment of Morian Shehone." This was
published i'll the first volume of the
Dublin Penny Journal in 1882. The
second volume published the 'lament"
as given below, beautifully versifed,
with only the initials of the poet, J..
L. L. E. Mel
Lament of Morian Shehone for Miss
Mary Bourke.
There's darkness in thy dwelling place
and silence reigns above.
And Mary's voice is heard no more
like the soft voice of love.
Yes, thou art gone, my Mary dear,
and Morian Shehone
Is left to sing his song of woe, and
wall for thee alone.
Oh, snow-white were thy virtues, the
beautiful, the young.
The aged with pleasure bent to hear
the music of thy tongue.
The young with rapture gazed on thee,
and their hearts in love were bound;
For thou vert brighter than the sun
that shed its light around
My soul is dark; oh, Mary dear, thy
sun of beauty's set;
The sorrowful are dumb for thee, and
the grieved their tears forget;
And am left to pour my woe above
thy grave alone
For dear vert thou to the fond heart
OF Morian Shehone.
Fast-Aowing tears above the grave of
the rich man are shed,
| Rut they ,ra dr;ad ,,1,o,, %ho oo1d exooo