The Book of Sunshine Published in Doolin, County Claire, IRELAND in the Summer of 1977 where the Author worked in the Hay and the Turf and rested from the Journey around the Planet
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995

INTRODUCTION

At the end of the three days the thought came to me to travel across Wales to Holyhead, and journey to Ireland. And this is what I did. Upon arrival in "The Emerald Isle" I headed to the most southern-most place in the land - a small island at the very south of Ireland called Cape Clear, where I rested for a while and studied the land to the North - in particular the closest mountain called Mt Gabrielle - before setting out, through the nature of the land into the north and along the western coastal regions.

Quite some days later, I was walking though the little sea-side village of Doolin in County Claire, when I saw a small run-down little cottage over a limestone bridge beneath which a little stream made its way to the sea. In the opposite direction, sitting in the late afternoon sun on his parents verandah and playing a guitar, was the first of the Shannon Family I was to meet - one Robert Shannon, the youngest of three brothers (Noel and Jim - the elder) and daughter Dymphna - the family of John and Lalla Shannon.

As it eventuated, I stayed on in Doolin for the the summer and assisted in the work about land around Doolin, in the hay and in the bog, with the fishing and with the harvests. I made my home in the little run down cottage over the stream, and gave it a new coat of WhiteWhash and a new name which I painted on the new walls with the green of the grasses .... SUNSHINE.

Being the center of Traditional Irish Folk Music region, and hosting a large number of talented people and musicians, the little sea-side village of Doolin (closest port to the Arran Islands - Inisheer, Inishman and Inishmoor) provided a great depth of peaceful and happy vibrations which I perceived to be at the same time ancient and eternally young. In the following year, Jim Shannon and Paddy Doherty organised the first of the Lisdoonvarna Folk Festivals, and event which was to be held over many years in the future.

I was fortunate during that time to become one of the representatives of the "MainLand" side, in the annual summer "Sports Events" held out on the Arran Islands. One team from the mainland and one from each of the three Arran Islands, and although we lost the tug-o-war, all had a great time. I have some photos of those days, and when I get better organised I will place them on the web.

As the conclusion of my soujourn in Doolin with the Shannon family in that Summer of 1977 began to draw near, I decided at that time to create a little book of writings which I had scribbled down here and there on my travels, and during my stay at Doolin. It was in this summer of 1977, already expectant with child, that I met for the first time my first wife. And now, almost 20 years after, this man-child - my raised son Jonathan, returned back to the fields of Doolin, and has sent back to me the "Sunshine Book" which I left with the Shannon Family all those years ago.

Duplicated, have I, its contents for the sake of the sharing of my life's inspiration (for whatever this is worth) with the world ... and its students of Life. And now that this is completed, I shall return it back under Northern Skies, to the place it where it was written.

And so this is the history of the "Book of SunShine", and how and when in the Northern Summer of 1977 it was written, to whom it was given, and by whom it was retained all these years, and how it was returned to me across the planet in this Southern Autumn of 1996.

The following articles form the contents of the "Book of SunShine" and it is hoped that each of you who read these works take away with you just a little portion of the Sunshine and the Peace which was given to me by Life in these times, when my feet stood upon the earth of this wonderful little land known as "The Emerald Isle".

PRF Brown
BCSLS {Freshwater}
Mountain Man Graphics, Australia
In the Southern Autumn of 1996

CONTENTS

The Ballad of the Hay - Summary of my Journeys upon the Emerald Isle in the Summer of 1977
Sunshine - The Nature of the Sushine - of the fields of Ireland & the planet Earth
Words of Ancient Time - thousands of years have passed: some things change and some do not
The Horizons of Sunshine - It is the Earth that knows horizons, not the Sky
The Quest and Labour of Sunshine - The Nature of Light and the work of Life
The Lord of the Ages - The Cosmic is both Above & Beneath the Terrestrial Seasons ... [Malaysia - 1976]
A Poem by my Brother Robert - Carried around the Planet, through all weathers and climbes

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Doolin, Co. Claire, Ireland - in the Summer of 1977

The Ballad of the Hay

I travelled west in search of rest
Unto my soul with eyes uplifted.
From Australian shores I journeyed far
To seek strange lands beneath the sky.

With half the earth beneath my feet
I stepped acros the Irish Sea,
Until I came to set my foot
Upon the Isle of Saints and Scholars.

And here I learnt some fine grand truths
About the earth which is my home,
For I walked within the mountain lands
To seek out nature's sanctuary.

I inclined my ear to the folk I passed
And heard a deeper song of praise,
And in their eyes a higher light,
Though sometimes hid, still shining bright.

Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Was the saying of the wind
And so I journeyed from the south,
Northward, hugging the westward coast.

I travelled on until one day
I learnt the work of saving hay
In Shannon fields of County Claire,
Through gentle rains and sunshine fair.

By Doolin, stream of sunshine rains,
A roof of shelter, kind and clear:
A folk to whom did receive me in,
With home-made bread and their strength of heart.

Sunshine fair and grasses tall,
I did see the wonder of it all,
And came closer to nature than a baling machine
For I came slowly to sense the humble virtue of work.

Age old turf dust in the wind of the hills
And the cleanest of hay-seeds in the fields of the sunshine
Did enter mine eye, and gladden my heart,
That did stir well deep memories as old as the kingdom.

Hay in the sunshine and the peace of the earth-fields,
From the motion of morning to the rest of the evening.
Strength is not muscle
Nor the power of the arm;
Strength is work's virtue
And the depth of the psalm.

Like the sound of stream waters after the rain,
Like the power of the sunshine on fields of seed grain:
True strength is humble and rests deep within,
My praise of thanksgiving is strong at Doolin.

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Doolin, Co. Claire, Ireland - in the Summer of 1977

Sunshine

Sunshine raises up the waters of the deep into the clouds of the sky
And moves the ocean of air, making the winds and the calms.
Sunshine blesses the grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit yielding tree with light
And gives them the energy to raise up their nutrients from the earth.
Sunshine gives all the beasts of the fields and forests light and warmth
By which they prevail in the course of their lives from day to day.
Sunshine blesses the uttermost parts of the earth
And sustains all living creatures big and small.
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy:
Sunshine on the waters makes me glad. [Thanks JD :]

Sunshine makes me lift up my eyes unto the sky
In order to understand the gifts from above ...
"For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
And sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
Sunshine makes me hope in the coming of the dawn
As yet when the earth doth cast a shadow about me
And the darkness of the night is upon me.

Sunshine is my earth's greatest blessing
For it never fails to appear to my eye
And does not turn aside even during the darkness of a stormy night.
The SUNSHINE shines at all times:
Oh that my eyes might never fall away from its truth.

Sunshine enlightens the face of the moon
So that folk may behold the eternity & constancy of the light.
Sunshine speaks across the vastest of distances
As the Age-Old sparkles of the far-away stars.

Sunshine causes the rainbow to appear in the sky
And brings glad tidings to the heart of all folk.
Sunshine is the foundation of vision
For sunshine is at the heart of all time and space.
Sunshine is the spirit of Nature,
For sunshine scatters the shadows
And fills folk with the gladness of Life.

Oh that I might always
Make sunshine my abode.

Words of Ancient Time ...

Many ancient and wise folk have written about nature and sunshine and the beauty of the earth. One such author was David, the father of Solomon, and one who was once - as the story goes - a humble shepherd and dwelt in his childhood and youth amidst the mountain fields and pastures. When they made him their king, he wrote them the book of psalms, and I guess that he very much remembered himself and the life of his childhood, for he never ceases to marvel at the wonder of nature:
"The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech of language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun.
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoicing as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it.
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof!"

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Doolin, Co. Claire, Ireland - in the Summer of 1977

The Horizons of SunShine ...

High above the earth that's spinning
Deep within the heart that's singing,
Out beyond the moon that's clinging
Deep within the mind that's bringing
Homely thoughts to morning's dreams:
Rests the sun imparting sunshine,
Rests the soul that's still within.

The humble feet of peace and beauty are borne upon nature's paths,
From dawn 'till dusk we journey onward in the light of day:
In the heavens, centrally standing, stands the sun imparting life:
The earth it is which bears us onward as we stand upon its surface.
The fire without is always burning - source of light from heaven's door,
And its plain to see as daylight, never ceasing to give forth ....
Because of our earthly horizons we see evenings and the mornings,
Days and seasons, years and Ages,
And sunshine is "Made a rainbow of time" by our horizons,
Yet itself is eternal and free flowing.

Before the dawn across the earth-fields
Before the herald of light on high,
The spring of sunlight is giving forth,
And the earth it is that moves us onward,
Out of her shadow into the dawn.
Each morning are we borne into the sunshine
And the movement of the day,
Into the tapestry of Life.

When high above the sandy beaches: high above the ocean's border,
High above the mightly mountains, even yet the highest snow-peaks
Move the golden clouds at sunrise,
Move the clouds of heaven's waters;
Move the airy sky's deep ocean
And within the winds - the breath of nature
Above the mountains' towering summits,
It is received - the morning's first light.

Soon the mountain fields and forests,
Soon the wildlife of the prairies
And the folk whose eyes do see clear
To the vision of the SunShine
Will comprehend the inner spaces,
Will look upon the planet's life forms,
Will understand the Earth/Moon nature,
And turn within to greater glory:
To walk upon the paths of wisdom
And know the truth of understanding.

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The Quest and Labour of SunShine ...

"Come unto me,
All ye that labour and are heavy laden,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you,
And learn of me;
For I am meek and lowly in heart:
And ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy,
And my burden is light."

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Written earlier - in September 1976 - in Malaysia

The Lord of the Ages

As the sun shineth in his strength
So is his countenance with the summer.
With the industry of the golden leaves resowing
He labours into the autumn.
And through the misty cloud-covered mornings
He remembers with tears in the stillness of the winter.
And with the sound of many waters
He brings forth anew 'neath the springtime skies.

Let it be known: for the truth cannot be hid.
His thrown is established of old, and He is from everlasting.
The Lord of the Ages: He is both above and beneath the seasons.

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Written in Australia 1975 - by my Brother Robert

A Poem by My Brother Robert

"I could sail the waters of all the world,
Bitter, wild and blue:
And never I'd find a friend to love
Like the friend I've found in you.

I could walk down the roads of the word
And knock on all doors forever:
And I'd never find a friend like you,
Never, never, never."

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The Book of Sunshine Published in Doolin, County Claire, IRELAND in the Summer of 1977 where the Author worked in the Hay and the Turf and rested from the Journey around the Planet
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995