Transcript

Ní chloisim véarsa ó lon ná ó chéirseach,
Ní thagann féartha isna coillte glas,
Nín[1] aon suim ag an maighdean i ngreann ná i bpléisiúr
Ach ag gol agus ag béiceadh is a réabadh bas -
Mar nár tháinig an major i dtús an lae chughainn,
Ní rabhamar féineach i gcóir ná i gceart
Ach mar a sheolfaí aoire le góil go dtí an aonach
Ar thaobh na gréine de Shliabh na mBan.

Mo léan léir ar an dream gan éifeacht
Nár dh'fhan le héirim ins an oíche is stad
Go mbeadh dúthaí Déiseach agus íochtair Éirinn
Ag triall lena chéile ón tír aneas,
Go mbeadh a gcampaí déanta le fórsaí tréana -
Bheadh cúnamh Dé linn 's an saol ar fad,
Ó, is ní dhíolfadh meirligh de mhuintir Néill sinn
Mar bhuailfaí caoch iad ar Shliabh na mBan.

'S nach mó fear aosta agus buachaill gléigeal
Ón am go céile do ghabhadh le seal
Go bhfuil cordaí caola ag baint lúth a ngéag díobh
I ndoinsiúin dhaora go doimhin fí[2] ghlas,
Gardaí taobh leo ná leomhfaí sméid(eadh) orthu
A dhéanfadh plé dhóibh i dtír thar lear
Dá dtabhairt saor ón namhaid gan bhaochas
In am an tsaothair ar Shliabh na mBan.

Tá an Francach faobhrach le loingeas gléasta
Fé chrannaí géara ar muir le seal;
Sé a síorscéal go bhfuilid ag triall go hÉirinn
Is go gcuirfid siad na Gaeil bhochta arís 'na gceart;
'Á mba dhóigh liom féineach gur fíor an scéal san
Bheadh mo chroí chomh héadrom le (...).

Translation

I don't hear a verse from blackbird, cock or hen,
No grass grows green in the woods,
The maiden has no interest in mirth or pleasure
But crying and shouting and wringing her hands -
Because the Major didn't come to us at daybreak,
We weren't properly prepared there at all
But like a drover would be sent to the fair
On the sunny side of Slievenamon.

My geat woe to the useless crowd
Who did not wait wisely in the night and stop
So that the Decies and the lower part of Ireland
Would be journeying together from the south,
That their camps would be made with strong forces -
God's help and all the people would have been with us,
Oh, and traitors from among the Ó Néills wouldn't have sold us out,
Because they would be beaten blind on Slievenamon.

And it's many an old man and bright boy
Who were arrested recently from time to time
That thin ropes are removing the agility of their limbs
In imprisoning dungeons securely locked,
Guards by their side that you wouldn't dare glance at
And who wouldn't plead for them overseas
To free them despite the enemy
In the time of the test on Slievenamon.

The keen Frenchman has a fleet ready
With its sharp masts out at sea for some time;
Their constant refrain is that they are coming to Ireland
And that they will set things right again for the poor Gaels;
If I thought myself that story was true
My heart would be as light as a (...).

Footnotes

Commentary

This well-known song commemorates the rising that unfolded on Slievenamon mountain in south Tipperary on 23 July 1798 during the United Irishmen's Rebellion. The song is particularly associated with the Decies district (county Waterford) and the present recording is very much in keeping with the old-style singing of that area. Printed versions of the song appear in the following: John O'Daly and George Sigerson, The poets and poetry of Munster (2nd series, Dublin, 1860); Máighréad Ní Annagáin and Séamus de Chlanndiolúin, An londubh (Dublin, 1904); Pádraig Breathnach, Ár geol féinig (Dublin, 1920); and Duanaire Déiseach (Dublin, 1978), a posthumous collection of the songs, plays and writings of Nioclás Tóibín (1890-1966). The song became very popular in the second half of the twentieth century, particularly through the singing of Nioclás Tóibín (1928-94), nephew of his aforementioned namesake, who brought it to a wider audience through his involvement with Sean Ó Riada's Ceoltóirí Chualann in the 1960s. The air may have been composed by a piper named Seáinín Ó Curraoin of Gort na Daibhche, county Waterford (see notes to the Gael-Linn CD Nioclás Tóibín: amhráin aneas, 2007).