Seoithín Seó Hó
Irish Nursery Rhyme
Original Lyrics
Seoithín, seo hó, mo stór é, mo leanbhMo sheod gan chealg, mo chuid den tsaol mhórSeoithín, seo hó, is mór é an taitneamhMo stóirín ina leaba ina chodladh gan brón.
A leanbh mo chléibh, go n-éirí do chodladh leatSéan agus sonas a choíche in do chóirTá mise le do thaobh ag guí ort na mbeannachtSeoithín, a leanbh, ní imeoidh tú leo.
Ar mhullach an tí tá síógí gealaFaoi chaoin-ré an earraigh ag imirt ’s ag spóirtIs seo hiad aniar iad chun glaoch ar mo leanbhLe mian le é a tharraingt isteach sa lios mór.
A leanbh, a chléibh, go n-éirí do chodladh leatSéan a’s sonas a choíche in do chóirTá mise le do thaobh ag guí ort na mbeannachtSeoithín, a leanbh, ní imeoidh tú leo.
English Translation
Hush now, hush, my child is my treasure,My guileless jewel, my share of the wide world.Hush now, hush, what great delight,My little darling asleep in bed without a care.
Child of my heart, may sleep come easily to you.May good fortune and happiness always be yours.I'm here by your side, asking blessings for you.Hush now, my child, you won't go with them.
On the roof of the house are shining fairies,Playing and making merry under the soft spring moon.Here they come from the west to call to my child,Hoping to draw him into the great fairy fort.
Child of my heart, may sleep come easily to you.May good fortune and happiness always be yours.I'm here by your side, asking blessings for you.Hush now, my child, you won't go with them.
History and Meaning
“Seoithín Seó Hó” is an Irish lullaby. The singer begins by admiring a sleeping child, then imagines fairies on the roof. The refrain answers that unsettling image with a reassurance: someone is by the child's side, and the child won't go with them.
How do you say the title?
Seoithín is a soothing sound used to hush or lull a child; a rough guide is SHOH-heen. Irish pronunciation varies by dialect. Mo stór means “my treasure,” mo stóirín is “my little treasure” and leanbh means child. Síógí are fairies; lios is a ringfort, imagined here as their home.
Which lullaby is this?
This is the version Joe Heaney sang for Joan Rabinowitz at the University of Washington in 1982. In the Joe Heaney archive he remembers hearing his grandmother sing it to his younger sister and hum between verses. The title also appears on other Irish lullabies with different words. For a quiet bedtime version, sing the opening stanza and hum its melody, as Heaney remembers his grandmother doing.
Lyrics from nurseryrhymes.info