The Fairy Child – 18th Century Irish Folk Ballad of Love, Loss & Light

The Fairy Child is one of Ireland’s most tender and sorrowful ballads — a song that drifts between heartbreak and hope.
Written in the 19th century and attributed to the poet Samuel Lover, it tells the story of a mother whose little boy is stolen by the fairies, leaving behind a frail changeling in his place.
Her song is both a lament and a prayer — an appeal to the unseen world for the return of her “fairy boy.”

Unlike many lively Irish tunes, The Fairy Child moves slowly and softly, with each verse painting a scene of quiet tragedy.
We see the golden-haired child sleeping on his mother’s breast, the robin singing outside, the flicker of the rushlight dying, and finally the lonely midnight when the mother realises her true son has gone.
The ballad carries the unmistakable mark of Irish folklore, where joy and sorrow often share the same breath — the living world and the Otherworld forever intertwined.

Yet even through grief, the song finds light.
In its final verses, the mother looks beyond death, believing she will meet her child again “where no shadow falls.”
It’s a closing line of rare beauty — one that transforms mourning into eternal love.

Today, The Fairy Child remains one of the most haunting pieces in the Irish repertoire.
Its melody — simple, lilting, and mournful — captures the soul of Ireland itself: faith amid sorrow, beauty within loss, and love that not even the fairies can steal away.

LYRICS

[Verse 1]

 The summer sun was sinking,

 With a light so calm and mellow;

 It shone on my little boy’s bonny cheeks,

 And his loose locks of yellow.

[Verse 2]

 The robin was singing sweetly,

 And his song was sad and tender;

 And my little boy’s eyes, while he heard the song,

 Smiled with a sweet, soft splendour.

[Chorus (refrain)]

 Oh my child, my joy, my boy,

 Restore to me my fairy boy.

[Verse 3]

 My little boy lay on my bosom,

 While his soul the song was quaffing;

 The joy of his soul had tinged his cheek,

 And his heart and his eye were laughing.

[Verse 4]

 I sate alone in my cottage,

 The midnight needle plying;

 I feared for my child, for the rush’s light

 In the socket now was dying.

[Chorus (refrain)]

 Oh my child, my joy, my boy,

 Restore to me my fairy boy.

[Verse 5]

 There came a hand to my lonely latch,

 Like the wind at midnight moaning.

 I knelt to pray, but rose again,

 For I heard my little boy groaning.

[Verse 6]

 I crossed my brow and I crossed my breast,

 But that night my child departed.

 They left a weakling in his stead,

 And I am broken-hearted!

[Verse 7]

 Oh! it cannot be my own sweet boy,

 For his eyes are dim and hollow;

 My little boy is gone — is gone,

 And his mother soon will follow.

[Final Chorus (lift)]

 The dirge for me will soon be sung,

 And the mass be chanted meetly;

 I shall sleep with my little boy,

 In the moonlight churchyard sweetly.

[Verse 8 – Closing]

Yet though my heart lies broken,

And grief my days is steering,

I’ll meet him where no shadow falls,

Beyond all pain and fearing.

[Final Chorus – Resolution]

Oh my child, my joy, my boy,

No fairy hands can sever;

In heaven’s light we’ll stand once more,

Together and forever.