Transcript

(Síleann) céad acu gur leo féin mé nuair a ólaim dram,
Théid dhá[1] dtrian síos liom nuair a smaointim[2] ar a gcomhrá liom,
(Com is míne aici) fá dhó ná an síoda atá ar Shliabh Uí Fhloinn,
Tá mo ghrá-sa mar bhláth na n-áirní atá ar an draighneán donn.

Translation

A hundred of them think that I am theirs when I drink a dram,
Two thirds of them go away(?) when I think of their conversations with me,
Her waist (?) is twice smoother that the silk on O'Flynn's Mountain,
My love is like the sloe-blossom on the blackthorn bush.

Footnotes

Commentary

Parts 1 and 2 of this recording comprise a version of 'An Draighneán Donn', which is a very well-known song throughout Ireland. It is most commonly associated with the west of Ireland although Douglas Hyde wrote that 'there is no spot in the country where it is not to be still found, and it is as common in English as it is in Irish, but we do not always find in it the same verses'. See Abhráin grádh Chúige Connacht; or Love songs of Connacht (Dublin, 1893), 33. There are many different versions of this song both in Irish and in English. It occurs variously with both male and female perspectives. Charlotte Brooke included a version of it in Reliques of Irish poetry (Dublin, 1789) and Edward Bunting published a melody entitled 'Droignan Dón' or 'The Brown Thorn' in The general collection of ancient Irish music (Dublin, 1796), 2. Early editions of Connacht versions of the song appear in James Hardiman, Irish minstrelsy (2 vols, London, 1831), vol. 1, 234-7, and Douglas Hyde, Abhráin grádha Chúige Connacht, 30-3. A Munster version of the song was published in John O'Daly, The poets and poetry of Munster (Dublin, 1849), 287-91, alongside a translation by James Clarence Mangan. A ten-verse version of the song is included in Dónal O'Sullivan, Songs of the Irish (Dublin, 1960), 49-51. For further bibliographical and discographical references, see Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, A hidden Ulster: people, songs and traditions of Oriel (Dublin, 2003), 192, 515-16. Another three verses (i.e. part 2) of this song are on a separate track in the Doegen collection.