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Dream Angus

[ Roud - ; DT DRMANGUS ; Mudcat 601 ; words George Churchill, music trad.]

Dream Angus is a song written by George Churchill set to a traditional Gaelic air. The oldest reference I could find is sheet music published by Bayley and Fergion Ltd. in 1923.

Drinkers Drouth sang Dream Angus on their 1982 album When the Kye Comes Hame. It was reissued in 2001 on their Greentrax CD A Tribute.

Gill Bowman sang Dream Angus in 1994 on her Greentrax album Perfect Lover.

Elspeth Cowie sang Dream Angus on her 2000 album Naked Voice. She noted:

A widely sung and well loved Scots lullaby, which I seem to have been singing all my life. A legacy of my days as an ‘army brat’. I learned it from Miss Peat in BFES Bückeburg, Germany.

Christina Stewart sang Dream Angus on her 2010 album of lullabies from Scottish tradition, Kist o Dreams. She noted:

Like many Scottish children, I was brought up with this one. The words and melody imply that this is not a very ancient song; probably written about 1850 to 1890 or thereabouts. Certainly, my grandmother who was born in 1894 was sung Dream Angus by her mother, despite their first language being Gaelic. There are loads of little variations on the words, but the song remains essentially the same. My mother assumed it was her father in the title role, as his name was Angus. This is an ideal opportunity to personalise a song, inserting the name of your child into the chorus.

A recent correspondent, Dr Donalda Smith, wrote “My mother (born 1905) always told me that the words were written by her cousin, Mary Fraser, who lived at that time in Edinburgh. It was performed by the Glasgow Orpheus Choir under Sir Hugh Roberton, and was a favourite with them.” She goes on to mention that her mother was younger than Mary Smith and died shortly after World War I.

The melody is very similar to a Gaelic lullaby Nam bu leam fhin thu thaladhainn thu, one very simple version of which appears on my Bairn’s Kist CD and is one I have been using in the Learning with Lullabies project. The meanings of the words of the two songs are very different, though, so there is no question of one being a translation of the other in any way, but it is possible the melody of one was used for the other.

Jackie Oates sang Dream Angus in 2013 on her album Lullabies. She noted:

This is a well-known Scottish lullaby about Angus, the Celtic god of dreams, who goes about the world dispensing sweet, unsettling dreams of love to everyone he meets.

Claire Hastings sang Dream Angus on her 2023 album Lullabies From Scotland.

Lyrics

Elspeth Cowie sings Dream Angus

Can ye no hush yer weepin’
A’ the wee lambs are sleepin’
Birdies are nestlin’, nestlin’ thegither
Dream Angus is hirplin’ ower the heather

Chorus (after each verse):
Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell
Angus is here wi’ dreams to sell
Hush ye my baby an’ sleep without fear
Dream Angus has brought you a dream my dear

List to the curlew cryin’
Faintly the echo dyin’
Even the birdies and beasties are steepin’
But my bonnie bairn is weepin’ weepin’

Christina Stewart sings Dream Angus

Chorus (after each verse):
Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell,
Angus is here wi’ dreams to sell o
Hush my wee bairnie an’ sleep wi’ oot fear
Dream Angus has brought you a dream my dear

Can ye no hush yer weepin’
A’ the wee bairns are sleepin’
Birdies are nestling, an’ nestling’ the gither
But my bonnie bairn is waken yet

Hear the curlew cryin’ o
An’ the echoes dyin’ o
Even the birdies are cuddled up sleepin
But my bonnie bairn is weepin’ greetin’

Soon the laverock sings his song
Welcoming the coming dawn
Lambies coorie doon the gither
Wi’ the yowies in the heather

Jackie Oates sings Dream Angus

Can you not hush your weeping?
All the birds are sleeping,
Birdies are nestling, nestling together,
Dream Angus is hirplin’ o’er the heather.

Chorus (after each verse):
Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell,
Angus is here with dreams to sell.
Hush, my dear baby, and sleep without fear,
Dream Angus has brought you a dream, my dear.

List’ to the curlew crying, oh,
Faintly the echoes dying, oh.
Even the birdies and beasties are sleeping
But my bonnie bairn lies weeping, weeping.

Soon the laverock sings his song,
Welcoming coming dawn,
Lambies hurry down together
With the ewes all in the heather.

Claire Hastings sings Dream Angus

Chorus (after each verse):
Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell,
Angus is here wi dreams to sell.
Hush, my wee bairnie, and sleep without fear,
For Angus will bring you a dream, my dear.

Can ye no hush your weepin’
A’ the wee lambs are sleepin’
Birdies are nestlin’, nestlin’ th’gether
Dream Angus is hirplin’ through the heather.

Hark noo the curlew cryin’,
Faintly the echoes dyin’,
A’ the wee birdies and beasties are sleepin’
But my bonnie bairnie is weepin’, weepin’.

Soon the laverock sings his song,
Heraldin’ in a bright new dawn,
Wee lambs they coorie doon th’gether
Alang wi their ewies in the heather.