Transcript

Tá an saol seo crostaí, tá an dligheadh ró-láidir,
Is ní bhfaighinn ón bPápa thú a phósadh liom,
Ach dhá dtagtá liomsa ar chúl an gháirdín, ó,
Nó go bhfaigheadh muist fáil ann cead súgradh is grinn.

(Muise,) ar chúl an gháirdín ní bhfaighidh tú fáil orm,
Ná ins an (ngábh) údaí ar chúl mo chinn,
Is a laghad é an tsiocair le go bhfaigheadh bean náire, ó,
Nach míle fearr liom gan bualadh ann.

Siúd í tharamsa í an ealaí ghléigil, ó,
Agus sé mo léan géar mar rugadh í,
Mar an oíche a gineadh í i mbroinn a máthar, ó,
Gur le aghaidh mo bháis a cumadh í.

Níor bhaist mé leanbh, ó, ar bith ariamh ná páistín
Ach an péirlín bán údaí a chráigh mo chroí,
Agus, a Aonmhic Muire, agus a Rí na ngrást, ó,
Nach cloítí an cás mé a bheith i ngrá le mnaoi.

'S an bhrionglóidí bhréagach a tháinig aréir, ó,
Agam féin agus mé i mo shuain,
Go dtáinig an spéirbhean is gur shín sí taobh liom, ó,
Ba deise a féachaint agus a leagan súl.

Bhí an com ba caoile uirthi, ó, ná na (caltaí) ag léimnigh,
Bhí a folt dá réir sin is é ag fás go dlúth,
Bhí an bhráid ba gile uirthi ná an sneachta ar thaobh an chnoic, ó,
Is a haghaidh dhá réir sin mar bhláth bán na n-úll.

Tiúrfaidh mé an chuairt seo go turas na Cruaiche, ó,
Agus ar ais aríst (aníos chun) an tSléibhe Báin,
Ag síorchur thuairisc mo chailín stuamaí, ó,
A rinní gual dubh dho mo chroí in mo lár.

(Aidhe, ara,) d'at mo ghuaillí go dtí mo chluasaí, ó,
Agus fuair mé fuagradh glan géar ón mbás,
Níl duine dhar chualaidh, ó, mo scéal an uair sin, ó,
Nár úirt go mba trua bocht é an Caisideach Bán.

Dhá mbeinn ' mo bhádóir is deas a shnámhfainn, ó,
Ins gach cearda dhá mbeadh mo ruain,
Bheinn dá leanúint thríd an tuile bháití, ó,
'S ag goil le fánadh ó thoinn go toinn.

Bheinn dá fáscadh faoina bánchrios
Nó idir mo dhá láimh dhá mb'fhada an oích',
Is gurb é a n-iarrfainn dh'achainí ar Rí na ngrást, ó,
Aon phóigín amháin a fháil ó stór mo chroí.

Translation

This life is troublesome, the law is too strong,
And I would not get permission from the Pope to marry you,
But if you came with me to the back of the garden,
So that we would find there the right to play and have fun.

Indeed(?), you will not have me at the back of the garden,
Or in that danger(?) behind me,
And as small as is the reason that a woman would be shamed,
I would prefer a thousand-fold not to go there.

There she goes past me the shining swan,
And it is my woe that she was ever born,
Because the night she was conceived in her mother's womb,
It was for my death that she was made.

I never baptised a child, or a little youngster
But that little white pearl that tormented my heart,
And, oh Mary's Only Son, and King of mercy,
What an abject situation that I am in love with a woman.

And the false dream which came last night,
To myself as I was at rest,
That the beauty came and lay beside me,
How nice was her appearance and the look of her eye.

She had a thinner waist than the (...) leaping,
Her hair was accordingly thick,
She had a brighter neck than snow on the mountainside,
And her face accordingly like the white blossom of the apples.

I will go on a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick,
And back again to the Slieve Bawn (?)
Forever asking about my staid woman,
Who turn my heart inside to black coal.

My shoulders swelled to my ears,
And I got a clear, sharp notice from death,
There is no-one who heard my story at that time,
That didn't say that fair-haired Cassidy was a poor pity.

If I was a boatman how well I would sail
Everywhere my love mihgt be,
I would follow her through the drowning flood
And go from wave to wave.

I would squeeze her about her white waist
Or between my two arms however long the night,
And all I would ask of the King or mercy,
Is one kiss from the love of my life.

Commentary

This is a version of 'An Caisideach Bán' which was composed by, or in the name of, Tomás Ó Caiside, who is believed to have been born in Leacht an Driseacháin, county Roscommon, in the early eighteenth century. He entered the Augustinian monastery in Ballyhaunis, county Mayo, and was evidently expelled as a result of a love affair he had with a local woman. This song reflects the personal dilemma Ó Caiside faced between his duties as an Augustinian monk and his love for women. He describes his desire for a beautiful woman with a sense of guilt and torture. Douglas Hyde collected a verse that implies that Ó Caiside seduced a girl in a wood after hearing her confession. See Abhráin diadha chúige Connacht (2 vols, London and Dublin, 1906), vol. 2, 175. In many longer versions he seeks mercy from God in the final verses. Some of the verses on the present recording also appear in 'An Caisleán Gearr'. See Ríonach Ní Fhlathartaigh, Clár amhrán Bhaile na hInse (Dublin, 1976), 10-11. For more information on this song see: Mícheál and Tomás Ó Máille, Amhráin chlainne Gaedheal (Dublin, 1905; new edition by William Mahon, Amhráin chlainne Gael, Indreabhán, 1991), 20-2, 162; Douglas Hyde, Abhráin diadha chúige Connacht, vol. 2, 171-7; Eibhlín Bean Mhic Choisdealbha, Amhráin Mhuighe Seóla (Dublin, 1923), 89; Ríonach Ní Fhlathartaigh, Clár amhrán Bhaile na hInse, 10-11; and Brian O'Rourke, Pale rainbow: an dubh ina bhán (Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 1990), 96-105. Mary Costello (Galway) and Pádraig Ó Baoighill (Donegal) sing versions of the song elsewhere in the Doegen collection.