PH2004
The Lyke Wake Dirge
Music: arr. Peter Hill & Sheena Phillips, Words: Trad. Anon
Voicing: SATB
Performance time approx: 3m 00s
Range S: d' – e'' / A: b – b' / T: g – c' / B: A – b
Price code: C
Complexity:
A strong traditional song from Yorkshire, England, forecasting how a person’s life on earth will affect their soul’s journey after death. Lyke is an old word for a dead body, and a wake is the watching over a body before burial – traditionally a time of communal eating, drinking and singing. In this arrangement, treble voices in various combinations sing the verses, while the repeating sections are sung by the full chorus in simple and strong harmonies.
This ay neet, this ay neet, any neet and all,
Fire and fleet and candle leet, and Christ receive thy saule.
When thou from here away may'st pass, any neet and all,
To Whinny Moor thou com'st at last, and Christ receive thy saule.
If thou ga'est ever hosen or shoon, any neet and all,
Then sit ye doon and put them on, and Christ receive thy saule.
But if hosen or shoon thou ne'er ga'est nane, any neet and all,
The whinnies shall prick thee to thy bare bane, and Christ receive thy saule.
When thou from here away may'st pass, any neet and all,
To Brig o' Dread thou com'st at last, and Christ receive thy saule.
When thou from there away may'st pass, any neet and all,
To Purgatory's fire thou com'st at last, and Christ receive thy saule.
If thou ga'est ever meat or drink, any neet and all,
The fire shall never make thee shrink, and Christ receive thy saule.
But if meat nor drink thou ne'er ga'est nane, any neet and all,
The fire shall burn thee to thy bare bane, and Christ receive thy saule.
This ay neet, this ay neet, any neet and all,
Fire and fleet and candle leet, and Christ receive thy saule.
Traditional English
Glossary
ay — one, very ('this very night')
bane — bone
com'st — comes ('comest')
doon — down
ga'est — gave ('gavest')
hosen — stockings
leet — light
lykewake — a watch over the dead, often with merry-making
may'st — may ('mayest')
nane — none
neet — night
Purgatory — where the souls of the dead are purged of their sins
saule — soul
fleet — house-room
shoon — shoes
whinny — gorse (very thorny)