Fernseed for Fairysight

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Fernseed for Fairysight (Post 73)

Fernseed for Fairysight (2007), is a book of fantasy verse. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s I developed a taste for writing retro-Victorian metrical verse and other esorteric forms. Having amassed a large collection of pieces, I looked for a likely repository and finally found a publisher that accepted such things. Fernseed came out as an ebook and is still available from a few places, it seems, including Amazon at this link.

The tone of the verses runs from the bawdy to the romantic and just about everywhere in between. The title comes from the refrain on one of the poems: Maggie's Song, which runs:

Fernseed for fairysight
Applebloom and may
Shamrock for Celts' delight
The secrets of the fay.

I learned this song from my grandma
who had it from her own
who heard it from a country maid
so heartsick for her home.
She knew it from her grandmamma
who had it from a friend
who knew it as a pretty charm
to make or bake and mend.

Fernseed for fairysight
To lift the hidden veil
Applebloom and flower o' may
To prove the ancient tale.

I sang this song from my childhood
and loved its merry lilt
but never thought it any more
than words from stories built.
I loved the song throughout my youth
and sang it on the path
that led me from the bonnie glen
to help preserve my past.

Fernseed for fairysight
A'gathered on the brae
Applebloom and eglantine
And the winsome flower o'may.

The song became my memory
for love, an epigram
I sang it on my wedding day
and taught it to my man
I sang it to my baby girl
who hummed it to her son
who plays it to his little ones…
(who know it's just for fun.)

Fernseed for fairysight
And heather on your breast
Applebloom and flower o'may
And may your path be blessed.

I sang the song when my man died,
as he passed beyond the tide,
I saw him smile for Heaven,
and I sang while others cried.
Today I sing the song for me
I know my time has passed
oh, my darlings, bring me fernseed
so I may see at last.

Oh fernseed for fairysight
Applebloom and may
Shamrock for Celts' delight
The secrets of the fay.
Fernseed for fairysight
To lift the hidden veil
Applebloom and flower o' may
To prove the ancient tale.
Fernseed for fairysight
A'gathered on the brae
Applebloom and eglantine
And the winsome flower o'may.
Fernseed for fairysight
And heather on your breast
Applebloom and flower o'may
And may your path be blessed

Fernseed for fairysight...
My path was truly blessed.

The verse comes with its own tune, so it can be sung, and it's one of the pieces I read to my mother when she was in the nursing home and unable to communicate. She always liked metrical verse. Three of the other verses, Auld Anni, The Scottish Hag and Kirsty Breeks have an odd connection with the Little Horrors series, which began with Flax the Feral Fairy 
(Post 6). I liked my hags so well I made them a bit more child-friendly and incorporated them into that series. Fernseed was followed by a companion book; Spinning Pearls.

About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. This preamble will be pasted to the top of each post, so feel free to skip it in future.

The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist.