Ann Moray

Ann Moray (1909-1981) was a singer and novelist. A native of Wales, Moray married Juan Lopez de Ceballos, a Venezuelan diplomat.

While biographical information is difficult to find, according to liner notes on her recording, “The Love Songs of Robert Burns” (Spoken Arts #754), she studied music in Vienna. During World War II, she worked with the U.S. Army Chaplains, singing unaccompanied in battlefield hospitals, where the soldiers knew her as “Scottie.” [ [https://www.uso.org/whatwedo/entertainment/historicalusocampshows/ USO Camp Shows] ] Maxine Andrews tells a story about a soldier who was afraid he was near death, who asked Moray to sing “Abide With Me” at his funeral. Moray assured him that he was not going to die anytime soon, but promised to sing. That night the soldier did die, and “two days later, Ann Moray stood in the rain next to his freshly dug grave on the beachhead at Anzio and sang.” [Andrews, Maxene and Bill Gilbert. Over Here, Over There: The Andrews Sisters and the USO Stars in World War II. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp, 1993, pp. 164-165.] Moray herself told about a time when a field hospital physician had cautioned her against informing a soldier that he had been blinded. This soldier asked her to sing "Smilin' Through" from a 1941 motion picture. The song contains repeated references to "eyes of blue," [http://www.lyricsdownload.com/richard-tauber-smilin-through-lyrics.html] and the soldier asked her if his eyes "are blue" or "were blue." Moray answered, "were." [Moray, Ann, “You Don’t Need Eyes” in Elmquist, Ruth M. and Daniel A. Poling, "Golden Moments of Religious Inspiration: A Treasury of Faith from the Christian Herald". New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1954, pp.259-260.]

After World War II, she continued to study music, and in 1952 gave her first recital at the Town Hall in New York. She developed a serious interest in the folklore of her homeland, and at a town hall recital in 1954, devoted the second half of the program to songs and legends of Ireland and the Western Isles.

Later in life Ann Moray turned to writing, and is the author of three published novels and a book of short stories. [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1964/12/0076417 Christmas List] (Harper's Magazine, 1964)]

Ann Moray’s papers are in the Howard Gotleib Archival Research Center at Boston University. [http://www.bu.edu/archives/holdings/contemporary/mno.html]

A number of web sites confuse Ann Moray with contemporary singer Anne Murray.

Works by Ann Moray

Periodicals

*“Christ Child’s Lullaby”—story—"Mademoiselle", December 1964. vol. 60, pp. 110-111.
*“Celtic Heritage in Ireland”—"Horizon", Spring 1965, vol. 7, pp. 32-39.
*“Tom Tinker Ellis”—story—"Mademoiselle", December 1967, vol. 66, pp. 100-101.
*“Magic Mask”—story—"Redbook", December 1971, vol. 138, pp. 71-73.

Books

*"Rising of the Lark", 1964.
*"A Fair Stream of Silver: Love Tales from Celtic Lore Collected and Retold by Ann Moray". New York: William Morrow and Co., 1965. [Callahan, John P. (Review.) "New York Times", Jan. 4, 1966, p. 25.]
*"Gervase". New York: William Morrow and Co., 1970. ["New York Times Book Review", Oct. 25, 1970, p. 58.]
*"Dawn Falcon: A Novel of Ancient Egypt". New York: William Morrow and Co., 1974.

Recordings

*"Gaelic Songs and Legends." Spoken Arts #745 (phonorecord 33 1/3).
*"The Love Songs of Robert Burns." Spoken Arts #754 (phonorecord 33 1/3).

References

External links

*AILEEN PIPPETT, [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1081EF93B5C147A93C0A91789D85F408685F9 "Review of "Captive in Wales; THE RISING OF THE LARK" By Ann Moray,"] "The New York Times", February 2, 1964, Sunday Section: Book Review, Page BR34.