My mother used to sing this lullaby when I was a wee bairn. It’s called the Highland Fairy Lullaby in English but I prefer the Gaelic version, An Coineachan beautifully played here by Steph Chaimbeul.
It’s a sad and cautionary tale which was also sung in primary schools in Scotland and haunted many children with its sense of loss. So much so that I have read that some mothers changed the ending! Mine didn’t and the memory of the lullaby has inspired a poem.
Morag Smyth 