Music
Dear Reader,
The melody of The March of Brian Boru is woven into all books of the series, beginning with The Rabbi's Knight.
The March of Brian Boru is an ancient Irish tune, associated with the Battle of Clontarf which took place on the shores of Dublin Bay in the year 1014. There the High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeated a combined force of Vikings and Irish rebels but was himself killed. According to legend, it was played during his funeral procession, becoming a lasting symbol of Irish heroism and resistance.
If you would like to hear the lament while you read one of the scenes where it appears in The Rabbi's Knight, please play using the controls below:
Excerpt from The Rabbi's Knight
Disguised as Genoese merchants, 19-year-old Isaac of Acre and 18-year-old William Wallace are making their way to Jerusalem through the Judean Hills...
Isaac took off his cap and wiped his forehead. "I need some water. Don't we still " have half a skin?"
"Not anymore," replied Wallace. "The horses were thirsty this morning."
Isaac looked back in the direction of the village. "There must be a spring or well here. Let's fetch the water skins from the wagon and go into the village."
Wallace led the way back across the field to the wagon, carrying the stave over his shoulder. He began to whistle.
Isaac thought the melody beautiful—sad and full of yearning. "What tune is that?" he asked.
"An old song written to honor the high king, Brian Boru. My father used to play it on the pipes back in Scotland," Wallace replied as he slid the stave back into the wagon next to the crate. He knelt, picked his blanket off the ground, and shook it free of dry grass, whistling as he folded it.
"Could you teach me to do that?" Isaac asked.
"What? To fold a blanket?"
"No, how to whistle. Could you teach me?"
"You don't know how to whistle?"
"Whistling is considered bad form in these parts. Mamluks believe it an omen of evil—the manner by which jinn are called forth from the netherworld."
"Jinn?" Wallace frowned as he stuffed his blanket back into the wagon. "What's that?"
"Ghuls, afrits, demons—some Muslims believe the very air is peopled with such spirits."
Wallace turned and looked back over the empty field. "Strange you should mention that. Out there, I felt I wasn't alone."
Isaac nodded. "I had the same feeling."
Wallace raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Then perhaps I shouldn't whistle."
"I think the dead don't wait upon a whistle, and we're far enough from the village that the living won't hear. Please, let me hear that melody again."
This exquisite rendition of Brian's Boru's March on Celtic Harp is performed by Marianne Bouvette and made available by her permission and generosity. Marianne is a multi-talented musician who was classically trained at the French Conservatoire. This Belgium-based Canadian-French artist plays music with a unique twist, "celticizing" famous tunes on the harp or "jazzifying" them on the piano with virtuoso acrobatics, on a mission to popularize traditional acoustic instruments with a broad audience. Visit her website here.
