Where did my mother's songs come from?
That is the mystery.
From what I know of either Grandma or Grandpa Weaver I never remember one bit of singing - and maybe my older siblings have different recollections. But from somewhere, a wealth of unusual songs broke from my mother's voice and heart. The lyrics delight and puzzle me.
From "A Capital Ship" - "the cook was Dutch and behaved as such/ for the diet he served the crew/ was a number of tons of hot cross buns served up with sugar and glue"
From "Red Wing" - "Far, far beneath the sky her Brave is sleeping/ while Red Wing's weeping her heart away"
From a lullaby "Mammy's going to take the toys of all the little girls and boys away to Sleepy Land/ time for Sandman now to come, 'cause night is here and day is done."
On and on.
A Dutch cook, an Indian Brave, Mammy? The words transported me into worlds of speculation and wonder, billowing me through the childhood years.
Maybe she had an imaginative, lyrical grade school teacher.
Whatever the source, the music of my early years lines my recollections years later with the velvet softness of drifting off to faraway places, anchored by her voice and love.
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