“The Wild Geese” (An Fear Gan Vanity)
Pencil, pastel, and watercolor
2023 ,I’m a bit leery of selling this picture, but I probably should.
I spent a lot of time in Ireland during my twenties, when I was learning Gaelic (so to speak; mostly just Irish) and in (mostly) Western Ireland and the islands. I’ve never been back, although I think of it often.
The subtitle is Irish for “A Man Without Vanity”……which I hope shows in this portrait. There is no word for “vanity” in Irish (obviously, there is an equivalent for “pride”. The title is that of an old Scottish song (the origianl poem written by Violet Jacobs in 1915). The song is sung here by Jim Malcolm, my favorite Scottish singer. He’s very straightforward and, thereby, all the more poignant.
To answer the usual howdoyoudoit questions?……look at the first comment with its detail of the portrait.
To hear the song you must hear if you’re to understand the portrait?……go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctLCxIWaLg
“The Wild Geese”
“Oh tell me fit was on yer road, ye roarin Norland wind?
As ye come blawin frae the land that’s never frae ma mind.
Ma feet they traivel England but I’m deein for the North.”
“Ma man, I saw the siller tides rin up the Firth o Forth.”
“Aye wind, I ken them weel eneuch an fine they fa and rise,
And fain I’d feel the creepin mist on yonder shore that lies.
But tell me as ye pass them by, fit saw ye on the way?”
“Ma man, I rocked the rovin gulls that sail abin the Tay.”
“Bit saw ye naethin leein wind afore ye come tae Fife?
For there’s muckle lyin ’yont the Tay that’s mair tae me nor life.”
“Ma man, I swept the Angus braes that ye hivna trod for years.”
“Oh wind, forgie a hameless loon that canna see for tears.”
“And far abin the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A lang, lang skein o beatin wings wi their heids toward the sea,
And aye their cryin voices trailed ahint them on the air.”
“Oh wind, hae mercy, haud your wheesht for I daurna listen mair.”
