about
Learned from Christie Boeskool Ling as a child at bedtime.
Source: traditional melody – Irish, c. 8th century
Be Thou My Vision verses [1,2], Rop tú mo Baile written by Dallán Forgaill in the 6th-8th century [Gaelic], translated by Mary Elizabeth Byrne in 1905, versified by Eleanor Hull in 1912, combined with the melody in 1927 by David Evans
Banks of the Bann verses [3,4], c. 10th century.
Arr. Micah Ling
lyrics
Be though my vision, oh Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light
Riches I need not, nor man's empty praise
Thou my inheritance, now and always
Thou and thou only first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art
When first in this country, a stranger I came
I placed my affections on a comely young dame
Her face fair and tender and her waist small and slender
Kind nature had formed her for my overthrow
On the banks of Bann water, where first we did meet
She appeared like fair Juno or a Grecian queen
Her eyes shone like diamonds and her hair softly twined
Her cheeks were like roses or blood drops on snow
credits
from
Kingdom Come,
released September 21, 2014
Micah Ling -- cello, vocals
Chris Bathgate – piano
Nic Gareiss – foot percussion
Laurel Premo – low fiddle line
Samantha Cooper – high fiddle line
license
all rights reserved