[read english version] I heard this song from Rod C. MacNeil (Ruairidh
Mac Iain Sheumais Dhòmhnaill Òig) of Barra Glen and fell
in love with it at once. It is a beautiful, heartfelt
lament of a woman who loses her husband and brothers to
drowning, the subject of many a lament for the Gaels.
The words are taken from Gaelic Songs in Nova Scotia; it
was collected by Helen Creighton from Hugh F.MacKenzie,
of Grand Narrows, Cape Breton. “Woe of woes! Such is my plight; I
will ever remain a woman without courage. A woman
without a son, without a husband, without mirth, without
health…” Hò rò ‘s na hù ò,
Falbh ho rò n-àill u,
Hò rò ‘s na hù ò Gur e mise tha fo mhulad
‘S mi air tulaich na h-àirigh. ‘S mi ri coimhead na mara
Ag cur thairis a’bhàta. ‘S mi ri coimhead nan gillean
Air an linnidh ‘g am bàthadh. Mo thriùir bhràithrean ann ‘s m’athair,
Fear mo thighe ‘s e chràdh mi. Bàs Aonghnuis a Barraidh,
Gur e sgar is a chràdh mi. Chuir ‘ad léine de’n anart,
Gun bhannan mu d’bhràghad. Ann an cistidh chaoil, chumhaing,
Air a dubhadh ‘s a tàirneadh. Och nan och mar tha mise
Bean gun mhisneach gu bràth mi. Té gun mhac gun fhear taighe
Té gun aighear, gun slàinte. |