L: The Children of Lir

An old Irish story, in the vein of the "evil stepmother" - in this case doubling as an evil aunt. Lir had four children but his wife died. He then married her sister, who grew jealous of the love her husband had for the children of his first wife.

She cursed them, changing them to swans and they were to spend 900 years, 300 at a time, in three different locations. Versions of the story tell how the children, after the 900 years, were changed back into human form at the sound of a bell from a christian church.

The image to the right is of the statue in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin. The link to information about the image is here.

The "Children of Lir" by Patrick Cassidy is an oratorio in the style of Handel, at least to my ear. Have a listen to the track samples - and then go buy the CD. You won't be sorry.