The Wedding of Mark and Elizabeth



The chapel, Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Fri 25 July 1997

Trinity Hall. From here. Used with permission.



Trinity Hall. See full size.
From here. See terms of use.

Arrival of the bride

Ave Maria (Bach)

Ave Maria (Bach).

English poem

The countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1581)
by Elizabeth's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granduncle Sir Philip Sidney.


My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for the other given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss;
There never was a bargain better driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one;
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides,
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his.

"My true-love hath my heart".

Irish poem

Epitalamium do Thighearna Chinn Mara (1720)
by Mark's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granduncle Aodhagán Ó Rathaille.

Lines written on the marriage in 1720 of his patron Valentine Browne, 3rd Viscount Kenmare to Honora Butler.


Atáid éisc ar na srúillibh ag léimrigh go lúthmhar,
Tá an t-éclips gan fiúntar ag imtheacht;
Tá Phoebus ag múscailt, 's an t-éasca go ciuinghlan,
Is éanlaith na cúige go soithimh.

Táid scaoth bheach ag túirling ar ghéagaibh is úrghlas,
Tá féar agus drúcht ar na mongaibh,
Ó's céile dhon mBrúnach í Réilteann na Mumhan
'S gaol gar dhon Diuic ó Chill Choinnigh.

Táid cuanta, ba ghnáthach fá bhuanstuirm ghránna,
Go suaimhneach ó thárlaidh an snuidhmeadh;
Tá cnuastar ar tráigh 'guinn ná luascann an sáile,
Ruacain is báirnigh is duileasc.

Táid uaisle Chill Airne go suairc ag ól sláintidhe
Is buanbhith na lánamhan i gcumann;
Táid suanphuirt na ndánta dá mbualadh ar chláirsigh,
Gach suanphort ar áilleacht is ar bhinneacht.


Poems written in one language cannot be satisfactorily translated into another, but this is roughly what it means anyway:

Epithalamium for Lord Kenmare (1720).


The fish in the stream leap up with activity,
The eclipse is departing without a struggle;
Phoebus is waking, and the moon is calmly bright,
And the birds of the province are joyous.

Bees in swarms cluster on boughs fresh and green,
Grass and dew are on the meads,
Since Brown has espoused the Star of Munster
The near in blood to the Duke from Kilkenny.

Heavens, disturbed by ugly long storms,
Are calm since this alliance took place;
There are gathered on the shore, undisturbed by the sea,
Cockles and limpets, and dillisk.

The nobles of Killarney are merrily drinking healths
And long life to the wedded pair in love;
Lulling melodies of songs are being struck on the harp,
Each one the loveliest and sweetest.
Elizabeth is in fact related to the Duke from Kilkenny - though not as closely as Honora Butler.

Signature of Aodhagán Ó Rathaille dated 1722.

Violin

The Cliffs of Doneen (or Dooneen).

The location of this song is disputed. There are various Dooneens in Co.Clare and across the Shannon Estuary in Co.Kerry.
In this area, at the ruined Dunlica Castle, near Kilkee, on the cliffs of Co.Clare, Mark's great-grandfather proposed to his great-grandmother (probably in the summer of 1892).

The Cliffs of Doneen.

Recession

Pachelbel's Canon

Pachelbel's Canon.

Trinity Hall. See full size. Fellows' Garden in back LHS.
Photo by Nick Stenning. See terms of use.



Trinity Hall from the river. See full size.
From here. See terms of use.


In memory of those at this wedding who have since died:
Elizabeth's grandmother.
Mark's father.
Elizabeth's father.