The bonny Swans, Loreena Mc Kennitt

The bonny swans

Dans la mythologie celtique irlandaise, le cygne est à la fois un symbole royal et un symbole de pureté et de féminité. On trouve plusieurs légendes irlandaises celtiques où des jeunes filles se métamorphosent en cygnes et deviennent animal sacré (parfois doué de la parole et chantant leur tristesse). Cette métamorphose les rend intouchables et les protège.

Cette chanson, tirée de l'album The Mask and the Mirror (1994) est inspirée d'un motif qu'on retrouve dans certaines fables et chansons populaires irlandaises. Une jeune femme (ici la plus jeune soeur) est noyée par son aînée (ou une rivale jalouse) et se métamophose en cygne. Le cygne dérivant au fil de l'eau est ramassé par la fille du meunier. Un harpiste fait du corps du cygne / jeune fille une harpe sacrée qu'il ramène à la cour du roi où l'instrument se met à chanter seul pour raconter le meurtre de la jeune fille.
Ce motif est également partiellement présent dans la légende construite autour d'un roi irlandais nommé Ler, qui inspira la pièce de Shakespeare, Le Roi Lear.

A farmer there lived in the north country
a hey ho bonny o
And he had daughters one, two, three
The swans swim so bonny o
These daughters they walked by the river's brim
a hey ho bonny o
The eldest pushed the youngest in
The swans swim so bonny o

Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand
with a hey ho a bonny o
And I will give you house and land
the swans swim so bonny o
I'll give you neither hand nor glove
with a hey ho a bonny o
Unless you give me your own true love
the swans swim so bonny o

Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
with a hey ho and a bonny o
Until she came to a miller's dam
the swans swim so bonny o

The miller's daughter, dressed in red
with a hey ho and a bonny o
She went for some water to make some bread
the swans swim so bonny o

Oh father, oh daddy, here swims a swan
with a hey ho and a bonny o
It's very like a gentle woman
the swans swim so bonny o
They placed her on the bank to dry
with a hey ho and a bonny o
There came a harper passing by
the swans swim so bonny o

He made harp pins of her fingers fair
with a hey ho and a bonny o
He made harp strings of her golden hair
the swans swim so bonny o
He made a harp of her breast bone
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And straight it began to play alone
the swans swim so bonny o

He brought it to her father's hall
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And there was the court, assembled all
the swans swim so bonny o
He laid the harp upon a stone
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And straight it began to play lone
the swans swim so bonny o

And there does sit my father the King
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And yonder sits my mother the Queen
the swans swim so bonny o
And there does sit my brother Hugh
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And by him William, sweet and true
the swans swim so bonny o
And there does sit my false sister, Anne
with a hey ho and a bonny o
Who drowned me for the sake of a man
the swans swim so bonny o