Transcript

Bhí mé lá go ceolmhar[1] i ngleanntán is mé ag seoladh bó,
Tharlaigh orm an óig-mhnaoi is í cóirithe ins an éideadh chóir,
Bhí hata os cionn a clóca agus buclaí ina bróga thíos,
Ó, ba chosúil le mo stóirín í ná an réalt eolais a bhí ag goil romham sa tslí.

Translation

One day I was in a little valley merrily driving a cow,
I met with a young woman who was dressed nicely,
She wore a hat above her cloak and there were buckles in her shoes below,
Oh, she was more like my darling than the guiding star going before me along the road (?).

Footnotes

Commentary

'Thíos ag teach an tórraidh', or 'Thíos ag teach an tórraimh', is a love song in which the poet is besotted with a brown-haired girl, hence the alternative title 'An cailín donn' ('The brown-haired girl'). It is a popular song in Donegal. Father Lorcán Ó Muireadhaigh collected versions from Rann na Feirste singers Gráinne Phroinnsíais, Meadhbha Tharlaidh Mhóir and Máire John, which he published in Amhráin Chúige Uladh (Dundalk, 1927), no. 32. See new edition by Colm Ó Baoill: Amhráin Chúige Uladh (Indreabhán, 2009), 88-90, 161, 186. For other published versions of the song see: Peter Kennedy, Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (London, 1975), 111; Nollaig Ó hUrmoltaigh, Ceolta Uladh 4 (Belfast, 1975), 11; and Mánus Ó Baoill, Ceolta Gael 2 (Cork, 1986), 94. It is not the same as the Munster poem 'An Cailín Donn', composed by Séamas Ó Muimhneacháin. See Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, Cois an Ghaorthaidh (Dublin, 1987), 35-6. Melodies entitled 'An Cailín Donn' can be found in Edward Bunting, A general collection of ancient Irish music (London, 1796), 15, and P.W. Joyce, Old Irish folk music and songs (Dublin, 1909), 355, but they do not appear to correlate with the melody sung here by Pádraig Ó Baoighill. He sings a longer version of the song elsewhere in the Doegen collection.