As we gear up for Christmas this year, no doubt the haunting and beautiful Coventry Carol [Roud 19028] will be heard in services and concerts the country over.
Its opening lines ‘Lully lullay’, which appear not only in this but also other English, 15th century carols, lullabies and poems such as This Endris Night and Lullay My Liking, represent a relic of the old lullaby tradition.
What’s interesting, is that these lines are in fact a shared tradition between English and Ukrainian lullabies (as well as lullabies of other Slavic cultures), which warrants looking into at a time when the form of the lullaby has taken on a new role during Ukraine’s fight for existence.
The linguistic connection of these lines is not by chance. It’s generally known that the word lullaby stems from the idea of ‘lulling’ a child to sleep, hence the phrase ‘lully lullay’ which acts almost as an onomatopoeic descriptor reflecting the act of rocking a child. What is less well known, however, is the common Indo-European origin of this phrase, traceable to the Sanskrit; ‘lolati’, also meaning to rock something back and forth. This verb was once common throughout most of the Indo-European languages and still exists as an archaic word in languages such as German, with the verb ‘lullen’ rendering the English ‘to lull’.
Yet despite the spread of the verb, it’s notable that this onomatopoeic ‘lully lullay’ which marks so many old English lullabies and carols is not preserved in the cultures situated between the UK and Eastern Europe. It is not present in lullabies in the French, German or Spanish traditions for example and only crops up again from Poland eastwards. As the Ukrainian tradition of lullabies is alive and well and the words ‘lully lully’ (‘люлі люлі’ in Cyrillic) can be heard in many such songs, I therefore like to think of these words as a cultural bridge between Ukraine and the British Isles. As in the English case, ‘люлі люлі’ is an old term, traceable back to Kyivan Rus’ infact, but preserved through performances of traditional folk repertoire, as in Nina Matvienko’s rendition of this traditional Ukrainian lullaby.
semantically, a lullaby rejects the war since the two concepts are incompatible with one another
Yet, in both the English and Ukrainian contexts, this old phrase is reused in modern compositions, carrying on a centuries-old convention but in updated contexts. This is clear in Angeline Morrison’s Unknown African Boy which tells of a mother’s grief for her son, captured by English slave traders and left to die on distant shores. The chorus therefore combines the commentary on the crimes of this period with the same traditional words; “Lully my dear babe, where’er you be / May the arms of the ocean be cradle for thee“
Lullabies have often walked this line between simple rhetoric but at the same time powerful, honest commentary on historical or current circumstances, whether invoking the horrors committed under the British Empire here or indeed Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine. Ukrainian musicologist Iryna Tukova noted after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 how the form of the lullaby was being used in Ukrainian classical music with traditional folk songs and instrumentation because “semantically, a lullaby rejects the war since the two concepts are incompatible with one another.” Therefore songs like that of folk artist Krut’ who creates modern compositions on the traditional Bandura, created a lullaby in December 2022 with the lyrics portraying a mother telling her son not to be afraid whilst his father is away fighting the enemy; “lully lully, now sleep, little one, sleep / I’m no longer afraid and neither should you be“.
In both the English and Ukrainian contexts, the traditional words ‘lully lully’ help signal the origin of songs within the lullaby tradition and lend a familiar sense of comfort and affection. In the lead up to Christmas, when the Coventry Carol is the most emblematic example of these words in the English context, it’s important to consider their counterparts; the lullabies in Ukraine which have been wrapped into the overall cultural resistance and equally invoke these soothing words to provide reminders of comfort and more peaceful times.
Though before Russia’s invasion Ukrainian folk songs were already popular and often reworked in popular culture, the full-scale invasion has prompted an even greater look at Ukrainian traditions and their preservation. Lullabies have become an important part of this and the words ‘люлі люлі’ have become almost iconic as an immediate association not only with the reassuring nature of these words in times of war, but key songs of the Ukrainian folk repertoire. This has resulted in reworkings of famous Ukrainian lullabies by new folk singers, such as Zabavka, or the creation of albums of traditional Ukrainian lullabies by singers such as Kola or even the integration of traditional lullabies and the words ‘люлі люлі’ with pop songs, such as the example by Korchenova.
Therefore, coming back to the time of year in which we finally hear again this old phrase in the English language, made famous through the continued reverence for the beauty of the Coventry Carol, it’s worth remembering this tradition which has lasted into the modern age in Ukrainian culture as well, where these words are currently synonymous with the centuries-old cultural traditions Ukrainians are trying to save.
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