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Skibbereen, also known as Dear Old Skibbereen, 'Farewell to Skibbereen', or 'Revenge For Skibbereen', is an Irish folk song, in the form of a dialogue wherein a father tells his son about the Great Hunger (Án Gorta Mór), being evicted from their home, and the need to flee as a result of the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848.
The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel band that take their name from Irish patriot of the 1798 rebellion, Theobald Wolfe Tone
'Skibbereen' (Patrick Carpenter)
O, Father dear, I oft times heard you talk of Erin's Isle Her valleys green, her lofty scene, her mountains rude and wild You said it was a pleasant place wherein a prince might dwell Why have you then forsaken her, the reason to me tell?
My son, I loved our native land with energy and pride Until a blight fell on the land and sheep and cattle died The rents and taxes were to pay, I could not them redeem And that's the cruel reason why I left Old Skibbereen
It's well I do remember on a bleak November's day The landlord and his agent came to drive us all away He set my house on fire with his demon yellow spleen And that's another reason why I left Old Skibbereen
Your mother, too, God rest her soul, lay on the snowy ground She fainted in her anguish of the desolation round She never rose, but went her way from life to death's long dream And found a quiet grave, my boy, in lovely Skibbereen
It's well I do remember the year of forty-eight When we arose with Erin's boys to fight against our fate I was hunted through the mountains as a traitor to the Queen And that's another reason that I left Old Skibbereen
Oh father dear, the day will come when vengeance loud will call And we'll arise with Erin's boys and rally one and all I'll be the man to lead the van, beneath our flag of green And loud and high we'll raise the cry, "Revenge for Skibbereen!"
This was a sweet novella about the middle Bennet sister, Mary, in a Pride and Prejudice reimagining. Mary was the quiet studious daughter. Her two oldest sisters are married as is the youngest. Her parents have taken Kitty off to London to find her a husband, but Mary stays in Meryton with Aunt Philips who is determined to find Mary a husband also.
Enter two cousins: Mr. Lacey, a gentleman farmer and a catch and lame Mr. Parris who will be clerking for Uncle Phillips. Both seem interested in Mary who prefers the more frivolous Mr. Lacey until she spends some quality time with Mr. Parris. All's well that ends well. Link to Amazon
I also read Half Agony, Half Hope, another novella which is a retelling of Persuasion. I enjoyed it, but it was pretty much just a retelling of the original story. But I love Austen reimaginings and will be reading more from this author.
I read and review a lot of Indie authors on this blog, but I also read a lot of traditionally published authors as well. I also reread my favorite books, both classics and just best-loved. On Christmas Day, I picked up my copy of The Good Fairies of New York in order to reread a book that always makes me chortle, giggle, and sometimes laugh out loud.
The copy I have now has an introduction by Neil Gaiman. I will quote from him to give you an idea of what the book is about: The Good Fairies of New York is a story that starts when Morag and Heather, two eighteen-inch fairies with swords and green kilts and badly-dyed hair fly through the window of the worst violinist in New York, an overweight and antisocial type named Dinnie, and vomit on his carpet. Who they are, and how then came to New York, and what this has to do with the lovely Kerry, who lives across the street, and who has Crohn's Disease and is making a flower alphabet, and what this has to do with the other fairies (of all nationalities) of New York, not to mention the poor repressed fairies of Britain, is the subject of this book. It has a war in it, and a most unusual production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Johnny Thunders' New York Dolls guitar solos. What more could anyone desire from a book? This book originally came out in the early nineties and my original copy did not have the introduction from Mr. Gaimen. Martin Millar is well-known in Britain both for his Lonely Werewolf series and for the Thraxas series (under the name Martin Scott). For some reason, he is not as well known in the States and that is a shame because he belongs in the respected author grouping of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Neil Gaiman. Maybe it's his covers, I don't know, but Martin Millar has a style all his own. Some people don't like it, but the rest love it. There seems to be no middle ground here.
There are a lot of Celtic stories and music here as well as musical references to early punk rock. The New York street scene is well-drawn as well as the Scottish countryside and people.
Here is the opening of the book to give you an idea: Dinnie, an overweight enemy of humanity, was the worst violinist in New York, but was practicing gamely when two cute little fairies stumbled through his fourth-floor window and vomited on the carpet. "Sorry," said one. "Don't worry," said the other. "Fairy vomit is no doubt sweet-smelling to humans."
I highly recommend this (and all) of his books. This one is a quick read; trust me, it will make you laugh.
I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review. Bree is a princess in Everealm. She has been in love with Rowan since she was fourteen years old. Unfortunately, he is not considered suitable and the fact that they went a little too far at one point means that he has been sent away to work as an assassin. When her father dies, Bree becomes Queen and there is the somewhat predictable story where Bree, Rowan, Dagan the wizard and others have to fight to save the kingdom from Bree's wicked uncle Silas and his wife.
The cover is lovely; that and the style of writing led me to believe that this was a YA fairy tale story. The book needs an editor (in my opinion). There is head-hopping between characters and a lot of poor phrasing that takes the reader out of the story. For example, "he certainly preferred her in red or deep green to match her eyes" made me wonder about the color of her eyes. Another example, "her body had rubbed against his groin, making it hard to concentrate on where he was leading his horse. And he was forced to rearrange his trousers to cover up his excitement caused by it". Was he excited by leading his horse or her body? There are a lot of sentences like this that just were not clear and stops the reader in order to try to understand what the author is saying. I can forgive a few instances of this, but there were too many throughout the entire book. I think an editor would have corrected this and made the book much better.
And this brings me to my second issue. This is definitely not a YA book. There are explicit sexual scenes of rape and violence. I don't particularly care if there is sex in a book, but here they are inserted somewhat gratuitously and I found them jarring. I don't think they were necessary and again they take the reader out of the story.
This book was a disappointment and I would not recommend it.
Larissa Markus is an ordinary shop girl living a somewhat dreary life in her steampunk era city. When the Professor, a rich and handsome older man, approaches her, she is flattered and falls for his attentions. What he really wants is her Anthonium necklace since he needs the rare stone to power his machine. Things don't work out the way he plans, though. The machine blows up, the Professor is kidnapped, and Larissa is left with Cid, the Professor's assistant to try and clear things up.
What follows is a rollicking adventure as Larissa assembles a motley crew to assist her in her quest. The story reminded me a little of The Princess Bride by William Goldman, only Larissa is no Buttercup. She is the Wesley of this tale. Besides Cid, she has her cat, Imago, the mysterious Holt, and a pirate crew to help her find and free the Professor.
I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. I intend to gush here. I read a lot of books and this one is just terrific, one of my very favorites from the past year. The pace is fast; the book really is a page-turner. I both wanted to find out what happens next, yet I savored every word of the story and did not want it to end. The characters are well-realized and Larissa's growth throughout the book worked in a very believable manner. The love triangle between Larissa, the Professor, and Holt also works (I won't give it away, but I liked the way Larissa deals with it). There are some scenes of violence because the villain here named Doctor Orother is sadistically evil.
The ending is satisfactory (not a cliffhanger) and I'm happy that this is apparently going to be a trilogy. I will be able to spend more time with these wonderful characters. E.C. Jarvis has done a great job with this story and I look forward to more from her. I most heartily recommend this book - you will not be disappointed. Oh, and don't forget there are pirates! Link to Amazon
Nola McLaren and Owen Campell are ready to celebrate their first real Winter Solstice together along with other friends and family in the small town of Antrim, Maine. An old Celtic legend will be the foundation for a big surprise for Owen.
Snow is a poem by Canadian poet Archibald Lampman. He died in 1899 and was described as the "Canadian Keats". He was of the school of "nature poets".
Loreena McKennitt is an Canadian new age singer noted for her dreamy Celtic melodies. She often sets poems to music and this is a fine example for the holiday season.
Snow
White are the far-off plains, and white The fading forests grow; The wind dies out along the height, And denser still the snow, A gathering weight on roof and tree, Falls down scarce audibly.
The road before me smooths and fills Apace, and all about The fences dwindle, and the hills Are blotted slowly out; The naked trees loom spectrally Into the dim white sky.
The meadows and far-sheeted streams Lie still without a sound; Like some soft minister of dreams The snow-fall hoods me round; In wood and water, earth and air, A silence everywhere.
Save when at lonely intervals Some farmer's sleigh, urged on, With rustling runners and sharp bells, Swings by me and is gone; Or from the empty waste I hear A sound remote and clear;
The barking of a dog, or call To cattle, sharply pealed, Borne echoing from some wayside stall Or barnyard far a-field; Then all is silent, and the snow Falls, settling soft and slow.
The evening deepens, and the gray Folds closer earth and sky; The world seems shrouded far away; Its noises sleep, and I, As secret as yon buried stream, Plod dumbly on, and dream.
Caitlyn is a graphic designer with a successful business in Washington, DC, but she travels to a small town in the Catskills when her cousin Todd is murdered. Todd is a nice high school boy, popular and a good athlete with an interest in the environment. Caitlyn wants to help with the investigation, especially after she meets Ethan, the Sheriff. She has a boyfriend, but it doesn't seem very serious and part of the book explores her deciding on their relationship. Ethan has his own entanglements that no one suspects.
Together they investigate Todd's murder which becomes increasingly complicated with all sorts of environment issues such as fracking and a plethora of suspects. I don't want to give too much away, but this is a rip-snorting ride of a mystery with a lot of twists before it is solved. I especially liked the neighbor farming family who came from the South and are mixed up with herbal folklore, but there are a lot of great characters. I hope to meet them all again in the next book.
I heartily recommend this book and enjoyed it immensely. Link to Amazon
I won these three books in an author giveaway. Alexis Davenport is an unhappy teenager. Her parents are getting divorced and her mother is moving her away from all her friends to start freshman year in high school. She's a smart girl who loves history and the books show her trek through her high school years, the new friends that she makes, the football jock that she has a crush on, and the typical fights with her mother that most teenagers go through.
On the other hand, Alexis is not a typical teenager. She is a time traveller who has the mysterious power to travel back through time to prevent an evil traveller named Drifter from changing the course of history. At times it it dangerous for her and she learns a lot from the bodies and minds of the women that she takes over.
This is a great YA series. I loved the bits of history strewn into the story and learned some new facts myself. Alexis, or Alex, grows up quite a lot over the course of the series and is always interesting. I highly recommend these books to teenagers who like fantasy and good reads.
Unhidden is the first book in The Gatekeeper Chronicle. Emma is a mercenary who hires out for special jobs with a team of two others, Jason and Daniel (the computer nerd). She is captured by a nefarious figure who attempts a strange sacrifice ritual on her before she is rescued. After that, all sorts of paranormal characters start appearing. There is a lot of action and fighting, too much in my opinion. It takes away from the character interactions. For example, Emma is a cold fish, but she will sacrifice for Jason and Daniel. I'm never sure why except that they were her team; Jason was a short term affair and Daniel is a nice kid she took under her wing while in the foster care system. She seems to mow down hundreds of men and creatures to save these two, but I'm never sure why as she's pretty callous otherwise.
The same thing with the romantic triangle (I'm not even sure it was a triangle). Zane is a mage from her past life, but spends most of his brief appearances trying to kill her. Alex also hates her, but then maybe becomes another love interest.
I'm not sure if the problem was that the author was waiting for the next book to straighten some of this out, but I felt that the story was often disjointed. It has an interesting premise, but I'm not sure I'll bother to continue the series.
I received this book free from NetGalley for an honest review. Link to Amazon
Spiral of Need is a paranormal werewolf romance. Ally has been alienated from her pack because of a jealous mate of her ex. Dereen brings her to his own pack because of a favor he owes to her brother (well, he grew up with her and his family adopted her).
There are predictable crises with the jealous mate on Ally's side and another jealous woman on Dereen's side. Plus another jealous woman who is trying to wipe out her new pack. Every other chapter is another sexual encounter for no particular reason that I could see except to lengthen the story.
I like paranormal, but this one was not for me. I was given this book as an ARC by the publisher for an honest review. Link to Amazon
Today is my day for the IndieBRAG Christmas Blog Hop and I'm very excited about it. It has been a wonderful trip through the blogs so far, full of interesting stories. I am very proud that my book, The Black Swans, was awarded an IndieBRAG Medallion. The Black Swans is based on the Irish story of The Children of Lir, so I thought it apropos to talk about some of the Celtic customs that the Irish celebrate at Christmas time.
In many parts of Ireland barns and outbuildings are still whitewashed, a holdover from older times when buildings were cleaned to purify them to welcome the coming savior. Houses were decorated with holly and ivy. You wanted to find a holly bush that contained many berries as that signified good luck in the coming year.
Christmas decorations are kept up until January 6th, or Little Women's Christmas. On this day women can leave their housekeeping and go out with each other to have fun. This is still celebrated especially in the Western part of Ireland.
Many families leave a candle in the window to welcome the Holy Family. They might also leave a mince pie and a Guinness out on Christmas Eve for Santa instead of the milk and cookies that we leave for him.
The Winter Solstice is also an important day in Ireland. December 21st is the day that the Oak King of summer must battle his twin, the Holly King. The Holly King always wins the battle and rules until the Summer Solstice. The Holly King was a giver of gifts, helping people to live through the harsh winter months, and is one of the earliest incarnations of Santa Claus.
Tuesdays on this blog are also known as Traditional Tuesday where I showcase a traditional Celtic song. Today I picked The Wexford Carol sung by Irish singer Loreena McKennitt.
The Wexford Carol is a traditional Irish Christmas carol. It is also known as 'The Enniscorthy Carol' and 'Carul Loch Garman'. The tune goes back to the 12th century though the lyrics are newer.
The Wexford Carol - Lyrics
Good people all, this Christmas time, Consider well and bear in mind What our good God for us has done In sending his beloved son With Mary holy we should pray, To God with love this Christmas Day In Bethlehem upon that morn, There was a blessed Messiah born
The night before that happy tide The noble Virgin and her guide Were long time seeking up and down To find a lodging in the town But mark right well what came to pass From every door repelled, alas As was foretold, their refuge all Was but a humble ox's stall
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep To whom God's angel did appear Which put the shepherds in great fear Arise and go, the angels said To Bethlehem, be not afraid For there you'll find, this happy morn A princely babe, sweet Jesus, born
With thankful heart and joyful mind The shepherds went the babe to find And as God's angel had foretold They did our Saviour Christ behold Within a manger he was laid And by his side a virgin maid Attending on the Lord of Life Who came on earth to end all strife
There were three wise men from afar Directed by a glorious star And on they wandered night and day Until they came where Jesus lay And when they came unto that place Where our beloved Messiah lay They humbly cast them at his feet With gifts of gold and incense sweet.
Darkness of Man is based on an interesting premise. When a human finally has a truly dark urge for violence, the urge creates an image copy of the person in a mirror world. Occasionally, the two worlds meet when the person views his image and each is transported to the other's world.
Gabe finds out that Allie, his girlfriend, is creating on him with his boss. The desire to do her violence transports him through the mirror and allows Cutter, his image, to escape that dark world and wreak havoc in the 'real' world. Meanwhile, Lisa, Gabe's shy friend at the office, has her own transfer with Ivy, her alter ego. Lisa has always had a crush on Gabe, but it isn't until they're locked in this dark world together and struggling to return to their real world that Gabe realizes Lisa's worth.
Gabe's arrival has been foreordained as the Haissem and he gathers a crew of interesting people and images to support him in his quest. I enjoyed these side characters almost as much as the main characters. Nothing is black or white and even the worst characters have good points. There are also many dangers in this alternate world which move the story right along.
This was an interesting concept and way to visualize the struggle between good and evil. The writing is good, but be warned: the story is raw with both graphic sex and violence. It is an engrossing read, dark fantasy at its finest. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.