I am the gilly of Christ

I am the gilly of Christ, 
The mate of Mary's Son ; 
I run the roads at seeding-time, 
And when the harvest 's done. 
 
I sleep among the hills, 
The heather is my bed ; 
I dip the termon-well for drink, 
And pull the sloe for bread. 
 
No eye has ever seen me, 
But shepherds hear me pass, 
Singing at fall of even 
Along the shadowed grass. 
 
The beetle is my bellman, 
The meadow-fire my guide, 
The bee and bat my ambling nags 
When 1 have need to ride. 
 
All know me only the Stranger, 
Who sits on the Saxons' Height : 
He burned the bacach's little house 
On last St. Brigid's Night. 
 
He sups off silver dishes, 
And drinks in a golden horn, 
But he will wake a wiser man 
Upon the Judgment Morn ! 
 
I am the gilly of Christ, 
The mate of Mary's Son ; 
I run the roads at seeding-time, 
And when the harvest 's done. 
 
The seed I sow is lucky, 
The corn I reap is red, 
And whoso sings the ' Gilly's Ranu ' 
Will never cry for bread.

by Joseph Campbell (1881-1944) , "I am the gilly of Christ", from The Gilly of Christ, published 1907

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874-1949) , "I am the gilly of Christ", op. 49 (Thirteen Songs: The Gilly of Christ) no. 2 (1922). [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2009-02-04.

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