Recently, the process of trying to dub a recording of the Britten Serenade caused me to listen to several of the movements repeatedly and I was struck that I have never fully registered what the words in the tenor's lyrics were nor had I completely understood the meaning of some of the more antique ones. Much can be figured out fairly easily by studying the context, but I was perplexed as to what Whinny-Muir and its whinnes were. A little research on the Lyke-Wake Dirge has led me to conclude that whinnes are a form of gorse or "sticker bush" as it is better known in the U.S. and I suppose that Whinny-Muir is the moor where the death-bound traveler would encounter them. The dirge recommends wearing ones hosen and shoon, if one has them, otherwise one's bare feet will be pricked to the bare bane. This is part of what one suffers on the way to the Brig (Bridge) o' Dread that has to be crossed on the way to Purgatory. The term lyke itself mean a dead body and seems to have disappeared from usage other than in "lych gate" that is the church entrance that was used for said bodies awaiting burial. One small further curiosity is that "fire and sleet" became "fire and fleet" somewhere along the way.
I'm sure that Lawrence Yates could have done a lot better, but I thought I'd share what I dug up (largely, I am obliged to admit, from wackapedia - caveat lector), in case anyone else out there ever wondered likewise. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Peter Hirsch _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
