The Drowning Of The City Of Ys

This is the title of a medieval legend from Brittany concerning a king Gradlon who built a city below sea level for Dahut his daughter. Dahut turned wayward, letting a prince, or perhaps the devil, steal the key to the floodgates of the city and thereupon open the sluices, drowning the city. Gradlon escaped, Dahut didn’t, and to this day fishermen sometimes hear her singing or playing bells below the waters.

We just heard Shira Kammen, accompanied by Tim Rayborn and Jim Oakden, perform a rendition of this ballad in a concert this afternoon at the Davis Community Church. Shira Kammen is a favorite musician of mine, renowned for her performances on medieval bowed instruments (e.g. the vielle). The first half of today’s concert featured songs in Middle English, the second half being the Breton tale with a bit of dancing as well as singing of some of the refrains by the audience.

Medieval music provides the performer very little to go upon. Many of the verses in today’s concert survived without any known melody. But that makes it up to the musician to supply inventiveness and creativity, and there’s nothing wrong with that!