This is the tale of Songs of The Water, a Hobbit Heart musical homage to Shire Rose and Spring will take place in the lovely village of LITTLE DELVING, the Shire. SONGS AND POEMS OF THE WATER
Once upon a time in the Shire
Benno and Waterlilly's mother Bindy died in a boating accident when WaterLilly was only a baby - some gossipy hobbit s say it was not an accident, they say she plunged herself into the river for reasons not yet made clear. Benno had to grow up fast, supporting his grieving father Baldo and looking after his baby sister Waterlilly - As Bindy died soon after she was born, her brother secretly blame his sister , Waterlilly, for their mother’s death. Like many older brothers he gets often annoyed with everything she does and the things she doesn't do.
At six years of age Waterlilly has yet to speak or sing a word - One day she discovers a secret passage from her home in Little Delving that takes her behind a waterfall where her father Benno has hidden a chest belonging to his wife Bindy. Inside the chest Waterlilly finds a small flute and a beautiful cape in the colors of the sea. Waterlilly wears her mother's cape and for the first time in her life she is able to sing with a beautiful voice - as she sings the little flute magically plays music behind the waterfall.
Waterlilly keeps her discovery quiet but returns often behind the waterfall via the secret passage to sing and feel close to her mother. On the night of her sixth birthday, she goes to her secret place and wears her mother's cape and sing, she suddenly feel an irresistible urge to dive into the water. Waterlilly soon finds out she can breathe and even sing under water and soon understand this was her mother's Bindy's secret - Bindy was a 'water maiden' and so is Waterlilly.
She spends a long night dancing under water, exploring her mother's water garden and loses track of time. When she finally get back home her father is angry, he knows she has found out the secret passage and her mother's chest, so he takes away her mystical cape , throws it into the fast flowing river, and sends Waterlilly and Benno off to live with their grandmother in Greenholm in the Far Downs.
Both children are unhappy - Benno blames his sister and she becomes even more shy and withdrawn. The village of Greenholm is the nearest hobbit village to the sea. Waterlilly has secretly kept her mother's small flute but away from the water the instrument does not play a single note , so one night she decide to leave the house and walk to the beach. In the light of the moon, with little waves washing ashore and lapping on her legs she is finally able to sing as the magic flute begins to play - suddenly between the foamy waves she sees a figure emerging from the water - It is her mother Bindy smiling at her - Waterlilly runs to her and the two holds in a water embrace.
Benno having noticed his sister is missing has followed her and is hiding behind a sand dune on the beach when he also sees his mother Bindy emerging from the water. She looks in his direction and smiles as Benno starts to run towards her despite been scared of the water. The two children spend the whole night and the following day with their mother by the sea. Waterlilly is finally able to talk - She takes them to visit a beautiful underwater house and garden and tells them she is never too far away from them. She tells them she is often in the water of the waterfall and the stream, looking for them, making sure they are well and happy. She tells them she still loves their father deeply but as a water-maiden she did find impossible to live away from water.
The children return home to Little Delving and together they sit with their father Baldo telling them of their watery adventures and that they know all about their mother. They tell their father Bindy would always be near, just behind the waterfall and that she loves him greatly. And so, from that day on the family is once more complete. Baldo and Bindy can be together at night, behind the waterfall. The children are happy , Waterlilly's beautiful voice can often be heard in Little Delving.
The family decide to keep their story secret, worried about hobbit gossip, but despite that, their closeness to water will always cause some raise eyebrows in the Shire , and this is how often 'fairy-tales' are born.
And They Lived Happily ( and wa-ter-ly) Ever After !
A hobbit fairy-tale loosely inspired by ancient Celtic legends about the 'water people ' or 'river -maidens' - the beautiful images for this tale are courtesy of Song Of The Sea (2014)
