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[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. |