Transcript

Liostáil mé le sergeant, mo chreach(t) agus mo chrá,
Thug sé thar an tsáile mé mar bhí mé bog óg,
Thug sé gunna (chargeáiltí dhom is) bayonet géar agus a barr air,
Agus gur shíl mé féin go mb'fhearr sin ná Condae Mhaigh Eo.

Dá ndéanfainnse (cóir le mo Pheadar) nach mé a bheadh maith go leor,
Sheachnóinn ól is imirt chárdaí agus comhluadar ban óg,
Sheachnóinn ól is imirt chárdaí, fíon Spáinneach agus ag (iarraidh) (...) (láidir),
I Santa Cruz ní fhágfaidh sé mo chnámhaí faoin bhfód.

Dá mbeinnse ar thalamh na hÉireann nach mé a bheadh maith go leor,
Ag éisteacht leis na héanlaith agus le géimneach na mbó,
Ní (rabh aon bhia) ná éadach ná ní ar bith eile ar an tsaol,
Ach is deise í an uain is an féar glas i gCondae Mhaigh Eo.

Grá mo chroí na preátaí, nach iad féin an toradh cóir,
Níor thug siad an svae leofa (rí)(...) domhan mór,
Nuair a leagfaidhear[1] fúinn ar clár iad beidh siad uilig (i gcád)(...),
Ach nach mairg a (bhíonns an garraí) tíocht (oíche Fhéil Muire Mór).

Translation

I enlisted with a sergeant, my ruin and woe,
He brought me overseas for I was free and young,
He gave me a charging(?) gun with a sharp pointed bayonet,
And I thought that that was better than County Mayo.

If I (...) wouldn't I be well enough off,
I would avoid drinking and card-playing and the company of young women,
I would avoid drinking and card-playing, Spanish wine and (...),
He will not leave my bones buried in Santa Cruz.

If I were on Irish soil wouldn't I be well enough off,
Listening to the birds and the lowing of the cows,
There was no food (?) or clothing or anything else in the world,
But the weather and the green grass is nicer in County Mayo.

I love the potatoes, aren't they the proper vegetable,
They didn't carry the day (...) the wide world,
When they are laid out on the table for us they will all be (...),
But how piteous is the field come the eve of the feast of Muire Mhór (?).

Footnotes

Commentary

'Contae Mhaigh Eo' is a popular Connacht song. It has many variants, both in terms of melody and lyrics. Some versions tell the story of a young man who decides to enlist in the army instead of staying in Mayo and who later gets caught deserting. Others claim the song follows the adventures of a seafaring captain Micheál Ó Bruadair. See Micheál and Tomás Ó Máille, Amhráin chlainne Gaedheal (Dublin, 1905), 156. Tomás Ó Concheanainn (Nua-dhuanaire III (Dublin, 1971; repr. 1981), 25-6, 83-4) discusses folklore related to the song and the complication that there appears to be at least two songs amalgamated into one in some published versions, such as 'Caiptín Bruadar' (cf. Micheál Ó Bruadair above). Twelve verses of the song are published, along with folkloric and bibliographic notes, in Ríonach uí Ógáin, Faoi rothaí na gréine (Dublin, 1999), 11-14. For other published versions see: Norma Borthwick, Ceól-Sidhe (Dublin, 1902), 41; Micheál Ó Tiománaidhe, Amhráin Ghaedhilge an Iarthair (Dublin, 1906), no. 34; P.W. Joyce, Old Irish folk music and songs (Dublin, 1909), 370; Eibhlín Bean Mhic Choisdealbha, Amhráin Mhuigh Seóla (Dublin, 1923), 1-3; Risteárd Dónal Mac Aodha, Na fonnadóirí (Indreabhán, 1996), 80-1. A different song, 'Cill Liadáin'/'Cill Aodáin', which is sometimes entitled 'Contae Mhaigh Eo', is sung by Tomás Ó Lócháin elsewhere in the Doegen collection.