Transcript

Sé mo léan go bhfacha[1] mé...

Sé mo léan go bhfacha mé dearg nó donn,
Sé mo léan go bhfacha mé bruach na dtonn,
Sé mo léan go bhfacha mé do chúla liom,
Ó, is a Chaití, a stór, tá mé breoite tinn.

Is a Chaití is tú a mhearaigh is tú a bhreoigh mo chiall,
D'fhág m'intinn ar mearú gachan lá le bliain,
Gur úirt[2] tusa liomsa is dúirt tú fá dhó,
Nach ndéantá mo mhalairt achoíche is go deoidh,
Is go bhfacha mé thusa le fear eile ag ól
Ar chúl an tor dreasóg is do ghloine in do dhorn.

"Ó," arsa an Dadaí is é ag ól an dí,
"Gheo' tusa Caití ar a stól ina suí,
Gheo' tusa Caití ar a stól ina suí,
Agus tabhair leat abhaile in do bhanríon[3] í."

Translation

Alas that I saw...

Alas that I saw red or brown,
Alas that I saw the seashore,
Alas that I saw your back to me,
Oh, and Kitty, my dear, I am weak and ailing.

And Kitty it was you who deranged and enfeebled my senses,
You left my mind bewildered every day for a year,
Until you told me and you told me twice,
That you would never ever have anyone but me,
And I saw you with another man drinking
Behind the bramble bush with a glass in your hand.

"Oh," said the Daddy as he took a drink,
"You'll find Kitty sitting on the stool,
You'll find Kitty sitting on the stool,
And take her home as your queen."

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a version of a song composed for Catherine Tyrell, who lived near Tyrellspass, county Westmeath, in the 17th century. She seems to have inspired a number of songs, and titles include 'Caitlín Tríall', 'Cití na gCuach' and 'Caithí na gCiabh'. Poets Séamus Dall Mac Cuarta, Turlough O'Carolan and Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna are all associated with this beautiful woman and are believed to have composed songs praising her. However, there are difficulties establishing the composer of each song. Lorcán Ó Muireadhaigh wrote that these songs had become intertwined and mixed up in the oral tradition (Amhráin Chúige Uladh (Dún Dealgan, 1927). See new edition by Colm Ó Baoill, Amhráin Chúige Uladh (Indreabhán, 2009), 104-5. Ó Muireadhaigh made a phonograph recording of the same Máire Ní Arbhasaigh singing five verses of this song which he published without music notation in Amhráin Chúige Uladh. These recordings are now housed in the National Folklore Collection, UCD. Ní Arbhasaigh's version also appears in An tUltach 1:10 (1924), 8. Ó Muireadhaigh noted the similarities between the melody used for 'Caithí na gCiabh' and 'Caitlín Triall'. Donal O'Sullivan highlights the similarities between 'Caitlín Tríall' and 'Éamann an Chnoic'. See Donal O'Sullivan, The Bunting collection of Irish folk music (6 vols, London, 1927), vol. 1, 24. Róise Ní Bhaoill writes that the original song was probably composed in the seventeenth century (Ulster Gaelic Voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 328-9). Another version of the song entitled 'Caití na gCliabh' but sung to the melody of 'Caitlín Triall' appears in An Claisceadal 7 (1936), 8. This song is transcribed also in Ulster Gaelic voices, 328-9.