The Lost Words (Autumn 2019)

 

"Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly that at first almost no one noticed - until one day, they were gone.

 

But there is an old kind of magic for finding what is missing, and for summoning what has vanished. If the right spells are spoken, the lost words might return..."

 

Robert MacFarlane

 

 

New words are being found all the time, words such as 'google' and 'selfie', but other words are being lost - powerful, ancient words such as 'acorn', 'bluebell', 'kingfisher' and 'wren'. Through the beautiful book, 'The Lost Words' by author Robert MacFarlane and artist Jackie Morris, we will rediscover these words and the worlds that lie behind them. We will immerse ourselves in poetry and art, in nature and in the Great British countryside discovering something deeper, something magical...

 

 

The Lost Words Blessing

 

Enter the wild with care, my love

And speak the things you see

Let new names take and root and thrive and grow

And even as you travel far from heather, crag and river

May you, like the little fisher, set the stream alight with glitter

May you enter now as otter without falter into water

 

Look to the sky with care my love

And speak the things you see

Let new names take and root and thrive and grow

And even as you journey on past dying stars exploding

Like the gilded one in flight, leave your little gifts of light

And in the dead of night my darling, find the gleaming eye of starling

Like the little aviator, sing your heart to all dark matter

 

Walk through the world with care, my love

And sing the things you see

Let new names take and root and thrive and grow

And even as you stumble through machair sands eroding

Let the fern unfurl your grieving, let the heron still your breathing

Let the selkie swim you deeper, oh my little silver-seeker

Even as the hour grows bleaker, be the singer and the speaker

And in city and in forest, let the larks become your chorus

And when every hope is gone, let the raven call you home