McKennitt blends world-music with folk, Celtic and exotic Mediterranean sounds using instruments such as the hurdy gurdy, kanoun, uilleann pipes, Turkish clarinet, bouzouki and nyckelharpa alongside traditional instruments like guitar, drums and bass and the harp, piano and accordion, the three instruments she plays.
Born in Morden, Manitoba, Canada in February 17, 1957, Loreena moved to Stratford, Ontario, Canada in 1981, where she still resides. She has acted and sung in, and composed music for, Stratford Festival of Canada productions ranging from The Tempest (1982) to The Merchant Of Venice (2001).
Her recording career began in 1985 with the album Elemental. In the fledgling years of her label Quinlan Road, Loreena ran its operations from her kitchen table, selling recordings by mail order and producing her own concert tours across the country. Quinlan Road's catalogue is currently distributed around the world by Warner Music (US), Universal Music (Canada and other territories including Italy and Spain) and a number of independents including Keltia Music (France) and SPV (Germany).
Stolen Child
Loreena McKennitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of sleuth wood in the lake
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats
There we've hid our fairy vats
Full of berries
And of reddest stolen cherries.
[Chorus]
Come away oh human child
To the waters and the wild
With a faery hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
Than you can understand
Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light
By far off furthest roses
We foot it all the night
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles
Whilst the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in its sleep.
[Chorus]
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above glen car
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams
[Chorus]
Away with us he's going
The solemned eyed
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace unto his breast
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
[Chorus]
For he comes, the human child
To the waters and the wild
With a faery hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
Than you can understand.
Loreena McKennitt's "Stolen Child" is a haunting and poetic song that delves into the world of fairy folklore. The opening lines set the scene in a vivid and mystical way, describing a rocky highland where a leafy island lies in the middle of a lake. There, the flapping of herons awakens the drowsy water rats. The lyrics go on to describe how the fairies have hid their vats of berries and stolen cherries on the island, setting the tone for the magical world that the song is set in.
The chorus of the song invites the human child to come away to the waters and the wild, taking the faeries' hands. The message is like a siren call to the child, who is encouraged to explore the mystery and magic of the natural world with the faeries as guides. The lyrics suggest that the world is full of weeping, beyond the understanding of the child. But by coming away with the faeries, the child can escape the troubles of the world and find solace and wonder in the natural world.
The final verse plays with the idea of being stolen away by the faeries, describing how the solemn-eyed human child will leave behind the sounds of everyday life, such as lowing calves or kettles on the hob. The faeries will take the child away to a world that is more full of wonder than weeping, offering a new perspective on the struggles and hardships of existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Where dips the rocky highland
In a place where a rocky highland meets a lake
Of sleuth wood in the lake
There is a leafy island where herons take off
There lies a leafy island
This leafy island is where they have hidden their fairy vats
Where flapping herons wake
These vats are filled with red cherries that have been stolen
The drowsy water rats
Come away with them to the waters and the wild
There we've hid our fairy vats
They will go hand in hand with the fairies, passing roses and moonlit sands
Full of berries
They will dance and mingle, leaping and chasing bubbles
And of reddest stolen cherries.
And seek out dreaming trout amongst the rushes
Come away oh human child
For those who go with them will find peace
To the waters and the wild
Away from the troubles of the world
With a faery hand in hand
With a fairy beside them
For the world's more full of weeping
They are going to a place where there is less weeping
Than you can understand
For this is the way of the fairies
Where the wave of moonlight glosses
You will dance all night
The dim grey sands with light
As the moon fades, they will seek trout and whisper in their ears
By far off furthest roses
Their dreams will be filled with turbulence
We foot it all the night
For the human child has joined the fairies
Weaving olden dances
Away from the troubles of the world
Mingling hands and mingling glances
With a fairy beside them
Till the moon has taken flight
For this is the way of the fairies
To and fro we leap
Whilst the world is full of troubles
And chase the frothy bubbles
And is anxious in its sleep
Whilst the world is full of troubles
The human child is with the fairies, away from the troubles of the world
And is anxious in its sleep.
For he will no longer hear the noise of the world
Where the wandering water gushes
And see the brown mice bob round the oatmeal chest
From the hills above glen car
For he has joined the fairies
In pools among the rushes
Through the waters and the wild
That scarce could bathe a star
And they will be together forever
We seek for slumbering trout
And while his body rests on the warm hillside
And whispering in their ears
He will find peace and dream of the fairies
Give them unquiet dreams
And the world, which is full of weeping, will not touch him there
Leaning softly out
For he has gone with the fairies
From ferns that drop their tears
To the waters and the wild
Over the young streams
With a fairy beside him
Away with us he's going
For this is the way of the fairies
The solemned eyed
Away from the troubles of the world
He'll hear no more the lowing
With a fairy beside him
Of the calves on the warm hillside
He has joined the fairies
Or the kettle on the hob
Through the waters and the wild
Sing peace unto his breast
For he has found peace
Or see the brown mice bob
And they will be together forever
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
Away from the troubles of the world
For he comes, the human child
And the world, which is full of weeping, will not touch him there
To the waters and the wild
For this is the way of the fairies
With a faery hand in hand
And they will be together forever
For the world's more full of weeping
Away from the troubles of the world
Than you can understand.
Through the waters and the wild
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid
Written by: DAN SEALEY, MIKE MCNAMARA, SIMON FOWLER, W.B. YEATS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@joshbates9015
Creepy in a sense, yes. It's more or less a poem about fairies stealing a child away from the human world in order to preserve it's innocence and spare it from the corruption that comes with age.
What becomes of the child? We don't know. Maybe they kill it, maybe they have a method of preserving it's youth.
In the celtic imagination, bodies of water were considered to be portals to the Otherworld, a magical realm that existed in tandem with the mortal realm, but only connecting at certain locations, and at certain times of the year, namely at Samhain, or what is today known as Halloween.
If someone drowned in the ancient celtic world, it was believed that that person's spirit found it's way to the Otherworld and left the empty vessel of it's body behind. This may sound absurd, but is it really any more ridiculous than modern beliefs in an afterlife?
The loss of a child is any parent's worst nightmare, but perhaps more terrible still is for a child to simply vanish without a trace. How can a parent truly grieve for a loss if they're never given definitive proof that their child is dead?
In the uncertainty of simply not knowing what has become of a child, there is room for optimism that lies in the imagination. Perhaps they were taken away by fairies to be cared for and nurtured in a world where they will remain young, happy and innocent forever.
The poem is undoubtedly creepy, but only because it deals with a dark topic and attempts to find a silver lining in an otherwise unimaginably dismal scenario.
@farvista
This made me weep. I know it's supposed to be a metaphor for a longing to return to innocence, and of faeries beguiling children to come away with them, but it makes me think of the high rates of child mortality in the past. If you go to a cemetery in the U.S. and look at children's gravestones, you'll see where families lost ALL of their children in the influenza epidemic in/around 1918. My great-grandmother and her 3 siblings were orphaned by it. How do people persevere through such grief?
"Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest."
@elizabethford7263
A remarkable child came into this world and was taken back by the fae the day after her 5th birthday. Dearest Fiona, no matter how many years have passed, you still remain in our hearts.
@Nightshade1212525
What is the line, "What is grief but love persevering?"
@GreenElfMom
I'm so sorry!
@mod5420
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam
@amoralamexicana1378
❤🌷
@badnelly7819
✨💜✨
@edfreeman4468
she has some of the most soul stirring and evocative music on the planet
@johnthornton8591
Loreena could sing about boiling cabbages in mid winter and it would be as if one had passed into and through heavens pearly gates.
@ainemistig
For real! You are totally right
@drinkus8405
Absolutely, I love her!