Rosc Catha na Mumhan

This is another very old song, a Jacobite song.  The title means Battle Cry of Munster.  

The Wolfe Tones - my favorite version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lJFY3FqGvk 

This song was probably written in 1750, well after the time of James, but during the 7 years' war, when they still had hope of the return of the Wild Geese.  It was written by Piaras Mac Gearailt (seo a uaigh).

This book has some background about him and a very poetic translation of the song.  The link below with the lyrics also has a lot of information.

There's some tough vocabulary and, being old, unusual versions of words.  This is one of the songs I learned very early on, but never really spent time to study until now.  And BTW, they used this tune for Come All Ye Black and Tans!  Poetry uses peculiar word order for rhyme and rhythm, too, of course.  It was considered cool to use mytholigical references, too, so there are a few names from Ireland, and even a Greek goddess in this song.

Munster Irish (and older Irish) uses synthetic endings.  Broad vowel + S is 1st person past tense, so the first word is D'athníos = d'aithin mé - I recognized.  Gan bhréag, without a lie, truthfully... Táid = tá siad.  Also, past tense verbs are preceded by 'do' - which usually lenites, giving us the standard lenited past tense forms.  Not in the autonomous, though:  do milleadh le dlíthe is do crádh le claon - where ruined by laws and were tormented with prejudice/unfairness.

Here's an attempt at a literal translation of the chorus.

Measaim gur subhach don Mhumhain an fhuaim    
I think it is joyous for Munster the sound
'S dá maireann go dubhach de chrú na mbua            
and to those who live gloomily under the heel                                                                                         of   (because of?)   the victories (destinies/fates?) 
Torann na dtonn le sleasaibh na long                   
The sound of the waves along the sides of the                                                                                         ships (slios, sleasa - side/s - dative plural here)
Ag tarraingt go teann 'n-ár gceann ar cuairt            
Drawing mightily towards us on a visit

(There are variations of the last line - le faobhar - intensly, sharply; gan mhoill - without delay)

inár gceann - engaging us, towards us, fighting with us?

Notice the nice d/s opposite pair, subhach (cheerful) vs. dubhach (gloomy).

Here are the lyrics with a pretty good translation (although it takes some liberties) to English and French:  Rosc Catha na Mumhan (free.fr)   This has 5 verses - I used to only know 4.  Bíonn dhá leagan de gach scéal, agus dhá leagan déag de gach amhrán...

Some more lyric points (to clarify some things they don't translate very closely to the original):

ní taise don ré - no less for the moon

sceoil = scéal

bruinneall - fair maiden.  an bhruinneal is áilne snó - the maiden with the most beautiful complexion

Ná bainim chum reatha - nach mbainim chun reatha, that I don't take (reap) for a run

barcaibh - dative plural ending.  Barks, a type of ship.

le báire an tséin - with the fortuitous contest (lucky battle)

táid mílte agus tuilleadh den dtáin seo fós 
thousands and more of this expedition are still
dá sníomh le buile gur tháinig an leon           
at their straining with wildness until (so that?) the lion                                                                                 came.

Cruinníodh gach duine d'fhuil Mhíle thréin    
Every person of strong Milesian (Irish) blood will                                                                                     gather
go ritheann 'na chuisle den bhfíor-fhuil braon, 
that runs in their pulse a drop of the true blood...(see                                                                                     above)

Amhrán Dóchais

This is a Song of Hope, a poem by Osborn Bergin, written in 1913.  Here are the Irish lyrics:  Songs in Irish (indigo.ie).  (Dán a scríobh Osborn Bergin i 1913, le fonn ‘Mór Chluana’ a bhailigh Patrick Weston Joyce in 1873)

This is a very nice choir + piano version by the Aer Lingus Singers from 1973 (100 years after the tune was gathered, 60 years after the poem was written!): Amhrán Dochais - YouTube 

Here is a very beautiful version (some Ulster singing, even though the lyrics are hard-core Munster Irish) from 2020:  Amhrán Dóchais | Tonn-Fuaime | Oíche Chultúir le Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh & cairde | Culture Night - YouTube

Even the Clancey Brothers did this song!  Amhran Dochais - YouTube.  This also shows the tune in notation.

And here is my own rendition:  https://soundcloud.com/jamusn/amhran-dochais

Here is my translation:

Song of Hope

Goodbye forever to sorrow and trouble, 

Goodbye without delay to sorrowful crying;
I sing lays (poems) of hope
In the sweet tongue of Ireland
And let us stand lively
Before the world.
Oh I sing lays of hope
In the sweet tongue of Ireland
And let us stand lively
Before the world.

I will not be slow unmoving any more,
Tormented, wilted, weak and cold.
Strength and energy of youth
Pulling us through the fight
And we'll remove this fog
From the offspring of the strong.
Strength and energy of youth
Pulling us through the fight
And we'll remove this fog
From the offspring of the strong.

Children of the Gaels thriving without defeat! 

They'll be free and will win.
We will follow the lantern
That our ancestors lit before us
And we're not worried that their
Race will wither after we're gone.
We will follow the lantern
That our ancestors lit before us
And we're not worried that their
Race will wither after we're gone.

Terms of Endearment - Lá 'le Vailintín sona daoibh!

 An Páistín Fionn:

Paistin Fionn - YouTube

This is not (hopefully) about a child, even though páistín is a little child, but rather about a young woman.  How do I know?  Because she's got cíocha!  Lyrics (the translation is garbage, I'm afraid...).  You can be sure it's a girl by the posessive pronouns...A croí is a haigne...

Grá mo chroí mo pháistín fionn...  Is í grá mo chroí (í) mo pháistín fionn.  Declarative sentence (fragment), not addressing her.  But later you get "A chumann mo chroí is mé ag smaoineamh ort"  Darling/love/companion of my heart (My beloved darling) as I think of you...

A píob = her throat (pipe).

fé chlár  - faoi chlár - under a board (in the coffin).

Tréigfead = tréigfidh mé = I will abandon/give up

mnáibh = dative form of mná

There are lots of lyrics on this page, including An Páistín Fionn.  Lots of terms for your love - and uses of the vocative case...  Probably worth a deep dive!

I love the chorus of this song:

Is tusa mo rún, mo rún, mo rúnIs tusa mo rún is mo ghrá gealIs tusa mo rún is mo chumann go buan!S'é mo chreach gan tú agam ó do mháithrín.

(You are my secret/my love...and my bright love.  You are my darling permanently!  Woe to me that I don't have you from your mommy.)

Here's another lovey-dovey song, although it wanders around a bit (and as in the other one, the speaker is miserable by the end...)

A Stór a Stór a Ghrá

(Hey, that's the vocative!)

Here are the lyrics.  Take the translation with a grain of salt, though...

A chumann (mo chroí, ionúin) - darling (also a chroí, a mhuirnín...)

A Ghrá - love (also a rún...)

A Stór - treasure  (also a thaisce...)

(Notice no slenderizing of the endings, even though they are masculine nouns in the vocative.  Tradition!)

Fáinne Geal an Lae, An Chúileann

 Seo an scéal:  The Dawning of the Day - Wikipedia

Agus seo na Casadaigh á chanadh:  (1) 'Fáinne Geal an Lae' - Na Casaidigh - YouTube

I thought of this song because of the Quiet Man.  Why?  The cottage name, White o' Morn.  Makes no sense in English.  But if you think it back into the Irish from which it seems to have been badly translated, you get Geal(adh) an Lae, the bright(ening) of the Day, Sunrise.  Fáinne geal an lae is the bright ring of the day, or the dawning (sunrise) of the day.  

This song is quite old, and yet it remains very poplular.

Cúileann comes from cúl fionn, blond back, in other words, a woman with long blond hair.  There's another famous song by that name.  We've been playing this tune for years, but didn't know the lyrics.  Here's a traditional rendition - sung by Brendan Behan!  (1) An Chuileann (Sean Nós) The Coolin in Irish (Acapella) - YouTube.  This song is probably a lot older than the other one - maybe even back to the middle ages!  In English about it: The Coolin - Wikipedia.  It is still very popular, too.

Here are the lyrics: An Chuilfhionn by Áine Minogue (aineminogue.com)  And here are the older lyrics (2 versions), including the line "Ceo meala lá seaca" which Micheál Mac Liammóir used for a book title.

Seo leagan eile de le Lasairíona Ní Chonaola.

Is Fada Liom Uaim Í (Molly na gCuach Ní Chuilleanáin)

Cad tá uait?  What do you want?  Cad tá ag teastáil uait?  What do you need?  (Cad tá ort - what's wrong with you?!)  Airím uaim mo chairde - I miss my friends.  Is fada liom uaim í - I miss her a lot (despite what you see in the usual transations - see fada)

The song is in the Ulster dialect. Cha dtéim is Ulster Irish for ní théim (I don't go) (cha = ní, chan = níl).

There are some conditionals, and a past habitual, so the grammar isn't totally for beginners.  But the chorus is pretty easy:

Is fada liom uaim í, uaim í  (I miss her, miss her a lot)
Is fada liom uaim í ó d'imigh sí  (I miss her since she went away)
Is fada liom thíos agus thuas í (I miss her below and above (everywhere))
Molly na gcuach Ní Chuilleanáin  (Molly of the curls Cullinane)

As usual, there are lots of very different versions of this song.  A popular one is Altan's, although it's hard to get her lyrics a lot of the time.  Danú did a nice more traditional rendition.  There are more!  There's even a crazy parody version...#12...

I Lár an Aonaigh - In the Centre of the Fair

 Aonach, an t-aonach, lár an aonaigh.  Useful word, with some good songs!

One is kind of a kids' song, but everybody knows and likes it:

Beidh Aonach Amárach

Here's a traditional rendition by Joe Heaney.  And here's a very different version by Altan. And this is the more common melody, by John Spillane.

As always, there are many versions of this.  Here are the lyrics (although there are some variations of course, and this has verses that not everyone does).  If you search on that website, you can find a dozen versions from different artists.  A nice thing about this song is that there is a lot of repetition, so it gets things in your head.

A few notes:  Gréasaí bróg is a cobbler of shoes.  Cé mhaith dom é = cén mhaith dom é, what good is it to me.

Another song which mentions a fair is a great drunken song:

Cad é Sin don Té Sin nach mBaineann Sin dó?

Which means, what is that to someone it has nothing to do with - in other words, if I want to drink away all my money, and waste my life, what's it your business?!

Here are the lyrics.  Another well known song, with lots of versions...

Here's Altan.  And here's Maighréad agus Trína Ní Dhónaill.  She mentions doing it many years ago with Skara Brae.  There are many more!

Note:  chun is a preposition that takes the genitive case afterwards, so "chun aonaigh" means to the fair.

First verse:  Chuaigh mé 'un aonaigh is dhíol mé mo bhó (I went to the fair and sold my cow)
Ar chúig phunta airgid is ar ghiní bhuí óir (for five pounds of money/silver and a gold yellow guini)
Má ólaim an t-airgead 's má bhronnaim an t-ór (If I drink the money and give away the gold)
Ó cad é sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó? (what business is that to anyone else)

Leabhair a Luadh - Books which were mentioned

 Seo na leabhair a mhol mé sa samhradh - Here are the books I recommended in the Summer.