In gaelico il temine “fanciulla del mare” può significare una sirena (mermaid) oppure una donna-foca, così ritroviamo leggende simili sia in Irlanda che in Scozia. (vedi prima parte)
Pelle di foca, pelle d’anima
AN MHAIGHDEAN MHARA
Una slow air dolce-amara più propriamente un lament che esprime tutto il dolore della mutaforma costretta a lasciare per sempre la sua bambina e il marito umano. La figlia della sirena è caduta in mare e la madre per salvarla dalla maledizione, prende il suo posto e ritorna per sempre nell’oceano.
In alcune versioni è il lamento di una donna-foca che ha ritrovato la sua pelle ma è rimasta intrappolata tra i due mondi, dilaniata dall’amore per i figli e il desiderio di ritornare al mare tra la sua gente.
In traditional Gaelic songs maighdean mhara (sea(l) maiden) can be a mermaid or a seal, so we find the same legends about the selkie already seen in Scotland. (see first part). In Ireland the mermaid is called merrow and can be either female or male. In fairy tales the little mermaid chooses to stay close by a man, assuming the human form, but is condemned to no longer be able to touch the salt water, because otherwise she will have to return for always at sea.
This Gaelic song comes from Donegal, collected by Seamus Ennis in the 1940s from Sheila Gallagher of Gweedore, it is a conversation between the Mermaid (or a selkie) and her daughter, Máire.
A melancholy slow air that is a lament that expresses all the pain of the shapeshifter forced to leave her child and her human husband forever. The mermaid’s daughter fell into the sea and her mother takes her place and returns forever to the ocean, to save her from the curse.
In some version is the lament of a selkie who has found her seal skin but she is caught between the two worlds, torn by the love for her children and by the desire to return to the sea, with her own people.
The Chieftains + Tie the Bonnet, O’Rourke’s in The Chieftains 2
Clannad in Clannad 1972
Altan ( Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh ) in “Island Angel” 1993
Aoife Ní Fhearraigh
Anúna in Omnis, 2003 con il titolo “The Mermaid”
I
Is cosúil gur mheath tú nó gur threig tú an greann;
Tá an sneachta go frasach fá bhéal na n-áitheann,
Do chúl buí daite (1) ‘s do bhéilín sámh,
Siúd chugaibh Máirí Chinidh (2)
‘s í ‘ndiaidh ‘n Éirne (3) ‘shnámh.
II
A Máithrín mhilis dúirt Máire Bhán.
Fá bhruach a’ chladaigh ‘s fá bhéal na trá,
‘S maighdean mhara (4) mo mháithrín ard
Siúd chugaibh Máirí Chinidh
‘s í ‘ndiaidh ‘n Éirne ‘shnámh.
III
Tá mise tuirseach (5) agus beidh go lá
Mo Mháire bhruinngheal ‘s mo Phádraig bán (6),
Ar bharr na dtonna ‘s fá bhéal na trá,
Siúd chugaibh Máirí Chinidh
‘s í in dhiaidh an Éirne a shnámh
IV
Tá an oíche seo dorcha is tá an ghaoth i ndroch aird.
Tá an tSeisreach (7) ‘na seasamh ins na spéarthaí go hard.
Ach ar bharr na dtonnta is fá bhéal na trá
Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.
English translation * I It seems that you have faded away and abandoned the love of life The snow is spread about at the mouth of the sea Your yellow flowing hair (1) and little gentle mouth, We give you Mary Chinidh (2) , to swim forever in the Erne (3) II “My darling mother, -said blonde Mary By the edge of the shore and the mouth of the sea A mermaid is my noble mother (4), We give you Mary Chinidh to swim forever in the Erne III “I am tired (5) and will be forever My fair Mary and my blond Patrick (6)” On top of the waves and by the mouth of the sea We give you Mary Chinidh to swim forever in the Erne IV The night is dark and the wind is high The Plough (7) can be seen high in the sky But on top of the waves and by the mouth of the sea We give you Mary Chinidh to swim forever in the Erne |
traduzione italiano Cattia Salto I Sembra che tu ti sia scolorita e abbia perso il buon umore. La neve si accumula all’imboccatura del mare i tuoi riccioli biondi e la tua dolce boccuccia Ti diamo Mary Kinney che nuota per sempre nell’oceano II “Mia cara madre- disse la bionda Mary al margine della riva e l’imboccatura del mare- una sirena [selkie] è la mia nobile madre” Ti diamo Mary Kinney che nuota per sempre nell’oceano III “Sono stanca e sarà sempre così la mia bella Mary e il mio biondo Patrick sulla cresta delle onde e l’imboccatura del mare- Ti diamo Mary Kinney che nuota per sempre nell’oceano IV La notte è buia e il vento è forte il Gran Carro si scorge alto nel cielo ma sulla cresta delle onde e l’imboccatura del mare- Ti diamo Mary Kinney che nuota per sempre nell’oceano |
NOTE
1) others translate “Your yellow-speckled back ” [altri traducono: la tua schiena maculata di giallo]
2) Mary Cinidh= Mary Heaney or Kinney is the merrow or selkie
3) Eirne is an old word for the Atlantic [è una vecchia parola per l’Atlantico]
4) a sea(l) maiden
5) it is the tragedy of the seal trapped between the two worlds, which becomes a lonely and tired figure, condemned to swim forever in the ocean, but unable to process the loss of her family on earth [è la tragedia della donna-foca finita intrappolata tra i due mondi, che è diventa una figura solitaria e stanca, condannata a nuotare per sempre nell’oceano, ma incapace di elaborare la perdita della sua famiglia sulla terra]
6) her daughter and her husband or her son [sono la figlia e il marito o il figlio]
7) the Cart (The Plow) of the Big Dipper [il carro dell’Orsa maggiore]
LINK
https://songoftheisles.com/2012/10/03/an-mhaighdean-mhara/
https://songsinirish.com/an-mhaighdean-mhara-lyrics/
https://thesession.org/tunes/4087
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/altan/anmhaighdean.htm
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/clannad/anmhaighdean.htm
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/anuna/mermaid.htm
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/fallon/anmhaighdean.htm
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7950
http://www.irishpage.com/songs/roaninis.htm
http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/translation/topic109070-20.html
http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/translation/topic1036.html