The traditional Manx tune, Arrane Ghelbee (Dalby Song), performed by Bernard Caine RBV and Charles Guard in c.1974.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful tunes in all of the traditional Manx music repertoire, Arrane Ghelbee also carries with it one of the most mysterious stories.
The tune was collected in Dalby by Sophia Morrison in the early 1910s, when she was told that the people of the village would assemble on the shore to hear the singing of a mysterious boatman who never came close enough to the shore to have his words understood or to be properly seen.
Bernard Caine RBV here sings words written to the tune shortly after it was first published in 1913.
This recording comes from a collection of recordings made by Bernard Caine and others in around 1974, recorded by Charles Guard.
The recordings were not released at that time but they were recently rediscovered and they are released here as a posthumous memory of Bernard Caine RVB and the many things he did for Manx language, music and culture during his lifetime.
A video interview with Bernard Caine RBV (in Manx) can be found on the Learn Manx website:
www.learnmanx.com/video_collection_79769.html
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