Transcript

Ó, is dá muirfinn[1] an riabhach is dá n-íosfainn an fheoil,
Dá ndíolfainn an craiceann agus sin uilig a ól,
Dá gcaithfinn mo bhrístí sa tinidh is a dhódh,
Goidé sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?

Tá an fómhar i mbliana ag goil in (aghaidh na) mban óg,
(Chan) na fir atá dá n-iarraidh ach iad ag goil leo,
(Cé acu) ciúin céillí a shiúlfaidh siad an ród,
Ní phósfar a'n[2] bhean i mbliana gan an riabhach agus a chrón.

Ó, spleoid ar an riabhach 'gus (cneadh) ar a chrón,
(Is ar an aon fhear a n-iarraidh fáil spré dá mnaoi óig),
I ndeireadh na bliana is i dtús an tsneachta mhóir
(Cé a fágadh san iaróig ach an) riabhach is a chrón.

Translation

Oh, and if I killed the brindled cow and if I ate the meat,
If I sold the skin and drank all of that,
If I threw my trousers into the fire and burned them,
What is that to that person whose business it isn't?

This year's courting is going against the young women,
It isn't the men who are seeking them but they go with them (?),
Though they walk the road quietly and sensibly (?),
No woman will be married this year without the brindled cow and its tan(?).

Oh, shame on the brindled cow and sores(?) on its tan(?),
And to any man who tries to get a dowry for his young woman (?),
At the end of the year and at the start of the great snow
Who was left in (...) but (?) the brindled cow and its tan(?).

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a Donegal version of the merry drinking song 'Cad é sin don té sin?', variants of which are known throughout the country. Ulster versions appear under the title 'Goidé sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?' in Énrí Muirgheasa, Dhá chéad de cheoltaibh Uladh (Dublin, 1934), 239-40, Padraig Mac Seáin, Ceolta Theilinn (Belfast, 1973), 32-3, and Nollaig Ó hUrmoltaigh, Ceolta Uladh 3 (Belfast, 1974), 10. The song was popularised by Skara Brae, who released a version of it on their self-titled album (Gael-Linn, 1971).