Day of the Lady benign,
Day to send sheep on prosperity,
Day to send cow on calf,
Day to put the web in the warp.
Day to put coracle on the brine,
Day to place the staff to the flag,
Day to bear, Day to die,
Day to hunt the heights.
Day to put horses in harness,
Day to send herds to pasture,
Day to make charms efficacious,
Day of my beloved Lady,
Day of my beloved Lady.
[NOTE: For whatever reason, Alexander Carmichael included the following miscellanea as part of this entry (69) in his collection of verses. Some of it relates to the verses, while some does not. In order not to lose it, I have included it here. just as Carmichael had done.]
MISC~
When the Wednesday is Samhain
Restless are the folk of the universe;
But woe the mother of the foolish,
When Thursday is the Beltane.
~At sunset, as day merges from Wednesday to Thursday, a man walks to the waist into the sea and pours out whatever offering has been prepared, chanting the following~
O God of the sea,
Put weed in the drawing wave
To enrich the ground,
To shower on us food.
~the following are common sayings heard on Brigit’s Day~
Feast of the Bride, feast of the maiden.
The day of Bride, the birthday of Spring.
Melodious Bride of the fair palms.
Thou Bride fair charming,
Pleasant to me the breath of thy mouth,
When I would go among strangers,
Thou thyself wert the hearer of my tale.
Early on Bride’s morn
The serpent shall come from the hole,
I will not molest the serpent,
Nor will the serpent molest me.
~when a woman is in labour, the midwife or the woman next her in importance goes to the door of the house, and standing on the doorstep, with her hands on the jambs, softly beseeches Bride to come~
Bride! Bride! come in,
Thy welcome is truly made,
Give thou relief to the woman,
And give the child all charms.
