May Your Mountains Dreary Be

On the way to Halifax I listened to the tail end of a radio program’s biography on Nova Scotia folklorist, Helen Creighton, that was followed by a popular song she discovered: “Farewell to Nova Scotia”.  I wanted to learn more and so later that day I checked out her Wikipedia page:

• Mary Helen Creighton (September 5, 1899 - December 12, 1989)

I guess that would explain the show— it was her birthday yesterday.  Two things stand out in the above.  First, her date of death together with the December 14 birthday of my younger sister, and my car crash of December 13, 2000 (a pivotal event in that it led to my becoming aware of the inner twin world for the first time), generates a “December 12, 13, 14/ Date Sequence” pattern-cluster. And second, her first name stands out given the following excerpt from my previous post:

The Deaths in 2018 site lists under September 3:

Jacqueline Pearce (20 December 1943 – 3 September 2018)74, British actress (Blake's 7, Dark Season, Doctor Who), lung cancer

Her surname is an addition to the “Remove a Letter Makes a Word” pattern-cluster... as in remove the “r” makes “peace”.   A fellow actor in “Blake’s 7”,  Brian Croucher, shares a common ground in that when the first “r” is removed from his surname it too makes a word— coucher.... from crouched to coucher... aka “peace”, and so a new .... more specific cluster emerges: “Remove an “r” Makes a Word” pattern-cluster

Creighton’s first name is an addition to the recent “Remove “r” Makes a Word” pattern-cluster... in this case removing the “r” makes “may”... a word... a month AND, my first name— MAY!!

I then turned to the wiki page of the wiki page of the song, “Farewell to Nova Scotia”, that provided lyrics (see below) and was taken aback by a portion of the traditional chorus:

Farewell^{[n 1]} to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast^{[n 2]},may your mountains dark and dreary^{[n 3]} be.For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?

Note from the notes section of the songs wiki page:

  "Sea-bound coast" has also been sung as "sea-bound shore(s)" and "may your mountains" has been sung as "let your mountains"

Of the Canadian Artist who I’ve heard sing the song, it’s always been “let your mountains dark and dreary be”.   The original version, “May your mountains dreary be”... in the cryptic sense, hits close to my heart!!  Note this excerpt from my Toumai Blog post, Mirror in the Sky What is Love?:

 

 My daughter Erin who was 5 years old at the time, was laying on the couch when she said to me, "mommy, there's a girl sucking her thumb in Grammy's painting". The painting pictured above was one of the few possessions that I had at the time, the only one that I had kept of the many that my mother had created over the years. It was one of the last that she would paint before she had fallen ill.  When I was 8-9 years old my mom would seek help for depression... an unfortunate mistake that would lead to valium and hopeless addiction. After that, I would lose my mom pretty much until I was 22... 

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Chorus:
Farewell^{[n 1]} to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast^{[n 2]},may your mountains dark and dreary^{[n 3]} be.For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?
1.
The sun was setting in the west,
The birds were singing on every tree.
All nature seemed inclined to rest
But still there was no rest for me.
Chorus

2.
I grieve to leave my native land,
I grieve to leave my comrades all,
And my aging parents whom I've always loved so dear,
And the bonnie, bonnie lass^{[n 4]} that I do adore.
Chorus

3.
I have three brothers and they are at rest,
Their arms are folded on their chest.
But a poor simple sailor just like me,
Must be tossed and turned in the deep dark sea.
Chorus

4.
The drums they do beat and the wars to alarm,^{[n 5]}
The captain calls, I must obey.
So farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charms,
For it's early in the morning and I'm far, far away.
Chorus