I rediscovered an old friend yesterday, this Domnahl na Gruen low D whistle, handmade by Daniel McGinley in Knoydart, Scotland.

Domnahl na Gruen means ‘Daniel of the Sun.’ Another spelling of the tune is ‘Domhnall Na Graine.’ The lyrics paint a lovely and touching story.

A man was very ill, and he wasn’t getting any better. One night, he stumbled out of his house in total frustration. He came upon a man in the street who asked why he was so unhappy. He told the stranger that he was ill and couldn’t recover. The stranger told him he had a tune. If the ill man would learn the tune from him, mastering it by morning his sickness would be gone. The stranger lilted the tune so that he could learn it. The sick man spent the rest of the night burning it into his memory. In the morning, he felt well enough to pick up his fiddle and play it. His sickness had gone. https://thesession.org/tunes/1317

God often uses music to heal, to refresh, to provide hope to a weary soul. Think of David playing for King Saul. “And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.” (1Samuel 16:23)

 “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” – Psalm 98:4-7

Blessings, Lisa