TESTO: “Norman” MacLeod – Rev Dr Tormod MacLeòid (1783 – 1862)
MELODIA: Heather Island
La breve poesia è stata tradotta in gaelico scozzese da Archibald Sinclair con il titolo Soraidh Slan le Fionnairidh (qui)
SULL’AUTORE
“There is no Highlander held in more affectionate remembrance and admiration than the late Dr Norman Macleod: and with justice; for no one worked more arduously, understandingly, and sympathetically for the cause of the Gaelic language, Gaelic literature, and the Gaelic people than the famous poet-minister, who, to this day, is commonly spoken of as “The Great Norman.” It was, however, Dr Norman the elder who wrote “Fiunary,”–and not, as commonly stated, the late Dr Norman. His “Farewell to Fiunary” is probably the most universally-known modern poem in the West Highlands.” (tratto da qui)
Ecco la voce di Ian MacCodrum (1693-1779) l’ultimo bardo del Clan MacDonald di Uist
| Look around you and see the gentry with no pity for poor creatures, with no kindness to their kin. They do not think that you belong to the land, and although they leave you empty they do not see it as a loss. They have lost their respect for every law and promise that was among the men who took this land from the foe |
Tradotto da Cattia Salto “Guardati attorno e osserva questa piccola nobiltà senza pietà per i poveri, senza gentilezza per i loro consanguinei. Essi non pensano che tu appartenga alla terra, e sebbene ti lascino nel vuoto, non lo considerano una perdita. Essi hanno perso il rispetto per ogni legge e promessa che esisteva tra gli uomini che presero questa terra dal nemico” |
ASCOLTA The Tannahill Weavers
ASCOLTA Rhiannon Fenn & Monique Bartkowiak
| I The air is clear the day is fine, and swiftly swiftly flows the time The boat is floating on the tide that wafts me off from Fiunary(1) Chorus: We must up and haste away, we must up and haste away We must up and haste away, farewell, farewell tae Fiunary II A thousand, thousand tender ties awake this day my plaintive sighs My heart within me almost dies, at thocht of leaving Fiunary III But I must leave these happy vales, see how they fill, the spreading sails Adieu, adieu, my native dales, farewell, farewell tae Fiunary |
Tradotto da Cattia Salto I L’aria è tersa, il giorno è bello e velocemente scorre il tempo, la barca è in attesa della marea che mi porta lontano da Fiunary. Coro Dobbiamo alzarci e in fretta allontanarci, addio a Fiunary. II Mille teneri legami risvegliano in questo giorno sospiri di pianto, il mio cuore sta quasi per scoppiare al pensiero di lasciare Fiunary, III ma devo abbandonare queste valli felici e guardare come le vele si dispiegano al vento, addio mie vallate natie, addio a Fiunary |
NOTE
1) Fiunary o Fuinary (Finnary) si trova nel Morvern (o Morvern). “There is nothing at Fiunary except a farm and a manse” scrive Alen McFadzean il blogger di Because they’re there… “There’s nothing there. It’s just trees, shoreline, a heron and a couple of cormorants. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting to find, but an old woman spinning wool outside a blackhouse and a couple of lads smoking pipes and gutting herring would have been nice. And perhaps the sound of an accordion playing Mairi’s Wedding, just to get my foot tapping. But there you go.
I get the impression that whoever lived in and around Fiunary during Reverend MacLeod’s day departed and never returned. Farewell to Fiunary was written during the latter years of the Highland Clearances. Before the clearances, Morvern’s population was nearly eight times greater than it is today. Perhaps, though, he was merely lamenting his own departure.” (tratto da qui) al quale rimando per la lettura di tutto il post.
La penisola è abitata da circa 300 persone contro le 2500 di prima delle Highland Clearances.
FONTI
The Highland Clearances di John Prebble
http://sangstories.webs.com/farewelltofiunary.htm http://www.tannahillweavers.com/lyrics/103lyr4.htm http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=27351 https://thesession.org/tunes/6610 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/09/16/farewell-to-meall-a-bhuiridh-creise-and-fiunary/
