Edward Norman Hay 1889-1943

[giles.enders]

Edward Norman Hay  Born 19.4.1889  Faversham Kent - Died  10.9. 1943 Belfast

The second of two sons¹ of Joseph and Janet Hay. He Married in 1920² and had one son³
He studied with Brennan, Chaundy and Englefield Hull, graduating from Oxford.  He spent most of his career in Northern Ireland. He was organist at Coleraine Church and later at Bangor Abbey.

Orchestra

'Dunluce'tone poem
Three tone pictures
'The Gilly of Christ' overture

Chamber

String Quartet in A major  pub. by Stainer and Bell (Carnegie Award)
String Quartet in F major
Phantasy string Quartet on Irish folk tunes (Cobbett Prize)
Sonata for cello and piano

Choral

'Gilly  of Christ' for soloists, chorus , organ and orchestra  words by Joseph Campbell 
'The Afterglow'  six part madrigal  pub. by Breitkopf and Hartel
'A Birthday', ladies trio or women's chorus  pub. by Stainer and Bell

Comic Opera

'The Lady Voter's Dilema'  Libretto by D MacLaughlin

1. Francis Edward Cecil Hay  1884-1885
2. Hessie Haughley  1898-1993
3. Norman Hay  1923-2007

[joelingaard]

What is a "Gilly"?

[Reverie]

I always though a gilly was a scottish gamekeeper?

[Wheesht]

That's a ghillie, whereas the gilly here apparently comes from a Gaelic name Giolla Criost (servant of Christ), but both words look as if they have the same origin.

[joelingaard]

That's a ghillie, whereas the gilly here apparently comes from a Gaelic name Giolla Criost (servant of Christ), but both words look as if they have the same origin.

I am confused, Was Christ Scottish? Reminds me of John Brown servicing Queen Victoria...

[Wheesht]

This is what I found in The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 55, Number 2, 25 December 1915:

THE GILLY OF CHRIST.

In this poem, "The Gilly of Christ," Joseph Campbell has woven a charming fancy round the old Gaelic name Giolla Criost (servant of Christ.) "It was the custom in Ireland to take dedicatory names such as the above," says Charlotte Dease— herself an Irish writer of note—in an appreciation of Campbell's work, which appears in The Month. Giolla Muire, servant of Mary, Giolla Phadraig, servant of Patrick, are other examples. So Campbell has imagined a " gilly " or servant of Christ still haunting the countryside, and though invisible to ordinary eyes, yet often leaving a blessing behind him. The poem follows:— I am the Gilly of Christ, The mate of Mary's son; I run the roads at seeding time, And when the harvest's done. No eye has ever seen me, But shepherds hear me pass, Singing at fall of even Along the shadowed grass. The seed I sow is lucky, The corn I reap is red, And whoso kneads the Gilly's barm Will never cry for bread.