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.
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.

Thíos ag teach an tórraidh[2] chuir mise eolas ar mo chailín donn,
Bhí a gruaidhe mar a bheadh rósa is a béilín mar a bheadh siúchra donn,
Bhí mil ar bharr na gcraobh agus céir bheach ar bhun na gcrann,
Bhí iasc na finne ag léimnigh le pléisiúr mar bhí sí liom.

Ar éirí domhsa Dé Céadaoine dar liomsa go rabh an mhaidin fuar,
(Bhreathnaigh) mé mo stóirín ar an léana agus í (ag tiomáilt) uaim,
Dhruid mé le mo chéile mar i ndúil agus go (rachadh 'un suain),
Ó, is a Rí[3], nár dheas an féirín í an óigmhnaoi a d'imigh uaim.
Dhruid mé le mo chéile mar i ndúil agus go (rachadh 'un suain),
Ó, is a Rí, nár dheas an féirín í an óigmhnaoi a d'imigh uaim.

Mallacht Rí na hAoine ar an té adaí a bhain daom mo stór,
Nach ligfeadh ar a gaobhar mé lá saoire ná go moch Dé Luain,
Dá mbíodh sé ag cur go dtaradh[4] an díle is ag síochur de shneachta ó thuaidh,
Ó, a Rí dá bhfaighinn cead síneadh léi go mbeinn comh haobhúil[5] leis an eala ar cuan.
Dá mbíodh sé ag cur go dtaradh an díle is ag síochur de shneachta ó thuaidh,
Ó, a Rí, dá bhfaighinn cead síneadh léi go mbeinn comh haobhúil leis an eala ar cuan.

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 (?).
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 (?).

Down at the house of the wake I got to know my brown-haired girl,
Her cheek was like a rose and her little mouth like brown sugar,
There was honey on the tops of the branches and beeswax on the bottom of the trees,
The white(?) fish were leaping with pleasure because she was with me.

When I got up on Wednesday I felt that the morning was cold,
I saw(?) my love on the lawn(?) moving away from me (?),
I moved towards my companion in the hope that she would go to sleep (?),
Oh, and Lord, what a nice gift she was, the young woman who went away from me.
I moved towards my companion in the hope that she would go to sleep (?),
Oh, and Lord, what a nice gift she was, the young woman who went away from me.

The curse of the King of Friday on that one who took my love from me,
Who wouldn't let me near her on a holiday or on Monday early,
If it were raining until the deluge came and constanly snowing to the north,
Oh, Lord, if I could lay with her I would be as happy as the swan on the water.
If it were raining until the deluge came and constanly snowing to the north,
Oh, Lord, if I could lay with her I would be as happy as the swan on the water.

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. Seee 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 (BÁC, 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 the same first verse elsewhere in the Doegen collection.