The Water is Wide

This song became popular in America after Pete Seeger introduced it in 1958.  It tells the story of false love.  The song has been claimed not only by Americans, but by the English, Scottish, and Irish as well.  The modern lyrics were consolidated from several versions, and then the song was named The Water is Wide by Cecil Sharp in 1906.  Watch the YouTube video in"Harp Demo" on the lower right of the screen!

  The words are as follows:

The water is wide, I can-not cross o'er.

And neither have I wings to fly.

give me a boat that can carry two,

And both shall row, my love and I.

A ship there is and she sails the seas.

She's laden deep, as deep can be;

But not as deep as the love I'm in

And I know not if I sink or swim.

I leaned my back up against an oak

Thinking it were a trusty tree

but first it bended and then it broke

Thus did my love prove false to me.

O love is sweet and love is kind

The sweetest flow'r when first it's new

but love grows old and waxes cold

And fades away like the morning dew.

CCHS Retreat 2017

Every Year the Colorado Celtic Harp Society hold a retreat for its members. The last few years it has been held at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Colorado Springs.  This year's retreat was May 19, 20, and 21 - right after the big spring snow.  Like last year, we included an event called "On the Town" during which each participant performs a selection for the whole group.  The harpist in this selection is Rebecca Markel.   One of the acts was videotaped as you can see by clicking on the link "On The Town" in the lower right under "Harp Demo."

The Water Kelpie  Click on link lower right "Harp Demo" to watch youtube video of the Harplanders performing the song.

A water kelpie is, as everyone knows, a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland. In J.K. Rowling's book Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them, Kelpies are described as shape-shifters native to the British Isles whose favorite form is a horse with bulrushes for a mane.  Rowling also mentions that the Loch Ness monster is a gigantic kelpie whose favorite form is a sea serpent.

The Kelpies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kelpies in Falkirk.

The Kelpies are 30-metre-high horse-head sculptures, standing next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and near River Carron, in The Helix, a new parkland project built to connect 16 communities in the Falkirk Council Area, Scotland.

 The sculptures were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013.

 The sculptures form a gateway at the eastern entrance to the Forth and Clyde canal, and the new canal extension built as part of The Helix land transformation project. The Kelpies are a monument to horse powered heritage across Scotland.

The sculptures opened to the public in April 2014. As part of the project, they will have their own visitor centre, and sit beside a newly developed canal turning pool and extension. This canal extension reconnects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the River Forth, and improves navigation between the East and West of Scotland.