Song Stories: “The Spinning Wheel”
A Romance Ballad
February is Valentine’s season, so I decided to share a romantic folk song this time around. The Spinning Wheel was written by Irish poet and lawyer, John Francis Waller. I chose a fun, catchy version performed by Eleanor Tomlinson, who is best known for her role as Demelza in the most recent Poldark adaptation.
LYRICS
Mellow the moonlight to shine is beginning,
Close by the window young Eileen is spinning.
Bent o’er the fire, blind grandmother sitting,
Is crooning and moaning and drowsily knitting.
“Eileen, a chara, I hear someone tapping.”
“Tis the ivy, dear mother, against the glass flapping.”
“Eileen, it surely is somebody sighing.”
“Tis the sound, mother dear, of the autumn winds dying.”
(Chorus)
Merrily, cheerily, noiselessly turning,
Spins the wheel, swings the wheel, while the foot’s stirring.
Spritely and brightly and merrily ringing,
Trills the sweet voice of the young maiden singing.
There’s a form at the casement, the form of her true love,
And he whispers with face bent, “I’m waiting for you, love.
Get up on the stool, through the lattice step lightly,
And we’ll rove in the grove while the moon’s shining brightly.”
The maid shakes her head, on her lips lays her fingers,
Up from the seat longs to go and yet lingers.
A frightened glance turns on the drowsy grandmother,
Puts a foot on the stool, spins the wheel with the other.
Lazily, easily, swings now the wheel round,
Slowly and lowly is heard now the reel’s sound.
Noiseless and light to the lattice above her,
The maid creeps, then leaps to the arms of her lover.
Slower and slower and slower the wheel swings,
Lower and lower and lower the reel rings.
E’re the reel and the wheel stopped their ringing and moving,
In the grove the young lovers by moonlight are roving.
(Repeat chorus)
***
What strikes me the most is the sensory description in the song. Waller paints the scene in such a way that it feels as though you are right there in the room. You can hear the rhythmic clacking of the spinning wheel… you can feel the dozy warmth of the crackling fire. And then Eileen’s sweetheart appears to tempt her away from her dutiful housework – out into the refreshing night air. When she finally leaves through the window, you can imagine her euphoria as she strolls beneath the full moon.
The Spinning Wheel reminds me of the many movies that show a teenage girl sneaking out of the house to meet up with a crush. It proves that young women then and now really aren’t so different; the responsibilities may have changed from spinning to homework, but they still “just wanna have fun” as Cyndi Lauper so succinctly put it 😉 Both songs are perfect for today’s Leo Full Moon.
I looked up a few spinning demonstrations, and I can’t help but feel that something was lost when women no longer needed to spin flax or yarn. This domestic chore was a necessity for our female ancestors. Yes, I’m sure it was tedious work, but just imagine all the daydreams that surely resulted from it! Perhaps those industrious women spun imaginative stories right alongside the flax – and when their day was done – they may have shared those tales with their siblings or children. Here’s a short video that I found interesting:
And now I’ll leave you with another cheerful poem by John Francis Waller…
***
O lovely Night! Thou hast a solemn luster,
Which shames the glare of day,
When o’er thy brow the stars serenely cluster,
And shine with tender ray.
O lovely Night! O lovely Night!—
But if the clouds sweep over
The glittering stars tonight,
Ne’er fear, we shall discover
Some beams to shine as bright.
Keen rays of wit shall glitter,
With light the cup shall shine—
What stars for night are fitter
Than those of wit and wine?
O lovely Night! Thou hast a voice more holy
Than meets the ear by day,
When through the depths the waves are murmuring slowly,
And winds through greenwoods stray.
O lovely Night! O lovely Night!—
But if nor waves nor breezes
Make minstrelsy tonight,
Ne’er fear, we’ll find to please us,
Some strains of rare delight.
With sweet accord of voices,
We’ll wake the Muse divine,
Till every heart rejoices
’Mid wit, and song, and wine!
***
Further Reading:
A Book of Poems by John Francis Waller
PS: Did you ever sneak out at night when you were a teenager? Let me know in the comments!
As a spinner myself, I always love tales that involve spinning! You are so right that we are losing touch (literally) with reality by no longer spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, and nålbinding (now there's an ancient art for you!) our own cloth anymore. It is such a meditative act that I find my musings join the fibers as my spindle or flywheel turn. Children and women (mostly) used to spin all the time, between other chores, as they walked everywhere, as the children played. Like spiders, they spun the thread of life as they lived from moment to moment. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to take yarn I spun on sanity walks for my oldest daughter when she was a toddler and nålbind a hat for her years later. It is taking the thread that was barely holding me together at that time and alchemizing it into something warm, useful, and full of love. Yes, the song is about leaving the spinning for an adventure, but there is something reassuring about her leaving the spinning wheel turning in her absence. She has something solid and sustaining to return home to after her flight. For further reading, you might enjoy this article. https://plymagazine.com/2020/07/a-womans-work-was-never-done-spinning-in-medieval-art/ Some of the paintings are quite amusing!
What a lovely song! I adore Eleanor's acting as Demelza. I had no idea she made music, too. I think I know what I'll be listening to the rest of the week now. Thank you for sharing!