Transcript

Maidin fhómhair agus mé ag triall go hEochaill
Cé casadh ar an mbóthar dom ach stór mo chroí;
Ba deirge liom a gruaidh ná cranna caorthanna
Agus ba mhilse liom a béal binn ná na ceolta sí.

Leag mé mo lámh ar a brollach ródheas
Agus d'iarr mé póg ar stór mo chroí;
Sé an rud a dúirt sí, "Stop agus ná stróic mo chlóca!
Tá nóisean mór ag bean an tí."

Níl sé ach móimint ó d'fhága mé Eochaill,
Agus tá náire mhór orm pilleadh ar ais,
Más ' son na póige atá tú ag dul go hEochaill,
Nach bhfuil (mian) do chroí agat in do chailín deas.

Níl sé ach móimint ó d'fhága mé Eochaill,
Agus is olc an treoir é (...),
Daoiní uaisle (an phoible) a (mothaíonns m'osna),
Nach an-olc an treoir í fear gan mian.

Gheall tú dhom agus rinne tú bréag liom
Go mbeinn(e) chomh gléastaí agad leis an (gcuach),
Go mbeadh[1] culaith shíoda ar dhath na sméara
'Gus marcach aerach chun an bhaile mhóir.

Ina áit sin tá mo dhá chois gheala ag siúl na sráide
'Gus an bráillín fáiscthe orm in áit na (...).

Dúirt tú go rabh caisleán agat ar lár do dhúiche,
Ní bhfuair mé romham ann ach bothán bó,
Tá mo chosa (ag rúscadh) ar maide an túirne,
Mo cheann crom fúm agus mé ag (gol an deoir).

Translation

As I was going to Eochaill one autumn morning
Who did I meet on the road but the love of my heart;
Her cheek was redder to me than the rowan-trees
And her melodious voice sweeter than fairy music.

I put my hand on her beautiful breast
And I asked a kiss of the love of my heart;
She said, "Stop and don't tear my cloak!
The woman of the house has a great notion."

It is only a moment since I left Eochaill,
And I am too ashamed to return again,
If it is for a kiss you are going to Eochaill
Don't you have your heart's desire in your lovely girl (?).

It is only a moment since I left Eochaill,
And it is a bad (...),
Noble people of the community hear my sigh,
And what a bad (...) is a man without desire.

You promised me and you lied to me
That you would have me as well-dressed as the cuckoo,
That I would have silk clothes the colour of the berries
And a lively rider to the big town.

Instead of that my two bright feet walk the street
And the sheet wrapped around me instead of the (...).

You said that you had a castle in the middle of your district,
I only found before me there a cowshed,
My feet are trouncing on the spinning wheel stick,
My head is bowed down and I am crying tears.

Footnotes

Commentary

These verses are from a song known under a variety of names and numerous versions of it are to be found throughout Ireland. It is particularly popular in Ulster and Munster where it is often called 'Eochaill' or 'Feochaill'. In Ulster versions of the song, local placenames such as Feochaill/Foughill (county Armagh), Leamhchoill/Longfield (county Monaghan) and Dromainn Tí/Drumintee (county Armagh) are mentioned. Reference is also made in some Ulster versions to the chief family of Gaelic Ulster, the O'Neills. In Munster versions of the song, the place-name Eochaill and Ceapach Choinn refer to Youghal, county Cork, and Cappoquin, county Waterford, and no reference is made to the O'Neills. The song may be regarded as a pastourelle (see Seán Ó Tuama, An grá in amhráin na ndaoine (Dublin, 1960), 23; idem, Repossessions (Cork, 1995), 146). For a southeast Ulster version of the song and for a detailed bibliography see Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, A hidden Ulster: people, songs and traditions of Oriel (Dublin, 2003), 207-8, 516-7. Pádraig Ó Gallchobhair (Tyrone) sings the opening verses of the song 'Maidin Fhómhair' elsewhere in the Doegen collection. Nioclás Tóibín, sean-nós singer from An Rinn (Ring), county Waterford, sings a Munster version of the song on Rinn na nGael (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 1999). For information on the melodies associated with the song see Dónal O'Sullivan, 'The Bunting collection of Irish folk music and songs 1', Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society 22 (1927), 105.