TURISMO IN SCOZIA/ Scotland travelling Archives

A phiùthrag ‘s a phiuthar (Sister’s lament)

“Sister’s lament” (Sister or sister) is a Scottish Gaelic song from the Hebrides, where a young girl kidnapped by the fairies calls her sister to come to her rescue: in the song the fairy hideout is described. The song is included in the collection “Songs of the Hebrides”, Vol 1 by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser with the title “A Fairy Plaint” (Ceol-brutha).

In folk tales, fairies are not benevolent creatures at all, attracted by the strength and vitality of mankind, they kidnap children and especially newborns, or seduce (for the purpose of kidnapping) a lot of beautiful youths.
The fairy abduction was once an attempt to rationalize the loss of loved ones, it was a great consolation thinking that the fairies had stolen that young life from a sad fate, or it was an explanation for abnormal behavior, such as autism or depression. Thus an “absent” behavior amounted to a rapture of the soul and the victim felt like a prisoner in the enchanted Kingdom; a great danger came from food, because it was enough a tasting to preserve a tormenting desire, very often fatal.

CELTIC TALE

Two sisters lived in a valley not far from a circle of fairies, where elves held a night market, offering a wide selection of juicy and tasty fruit. The market was invisible to human eyes, but one night the girls saw him: the older sister escaped frightened, but the younger intrigued, let himself be involved in the market and gave a lock of her golden hair for those fruits so inviting.
She returned home only after eating at will and the next night, driven by hunger that human food could no longer satisfy, she went to look for the elf market, no longer finding it. The older sister, realizing that her little sister was prey to an inexplicable malaise that consumed her, sought in turn the magical place, managing to find it; nevertheless the elves would have yielded their fruits only if the elder sister had also banquished with them; the girl fearing the end of her sister, she stubbornly refused, despite the elves, who did everything, even slamming the fruit in her face and pressing them against her mouth. So some juice remained on her lips ..

Goblin-Market-Arthur-Rackham — Goblin Market. Arthur Rackham.

At dawn the girl managed to return home to give a last farewell to her dying sister, a last sweet kiss .. that was how the little sister from her lips tasted elven food, her hunger was satisfied and she found healing.

A phiùthrag ‘s a phiuthar

The song shares the structure of the waulking songs and was originally perhaps a work song. The melody is very sad and some assume it is a funeral lament.

Flora MacNeil learned the song from a relative of the island of Mingulay
live in Tobar an Dualchais

Margaret Stewart in Togidh mi mo Sheolta (Along The Road Less Travelled)

Julie Fowlis in Alterum (follow the Calum Johnston version here)

The structure of the song repeats the last sentence as the first sentence in the next stanza. The choral part of the song is entrusted to “vocables”

English translation Flora MacNeil
I
Little sister, sister
My love, my sister [beloved sister]
Do you not pity(1)
My grief tonight
II
Do you not pity
My grief tonight
In a little hut(2) I am
Low and narrow
III
In a little hut I am
Low and narrow
With no roof of turf
and no thatch entwined (3)
IV
With no roof of turf
and no thatch entwined
But the rain from the hills
streaming into it(4)
V (english translation John Lorne Campbell)
But the rain from the hills
Streaming into it
I am a poor woman
sad and miserable.
VI
I am a poor woman
sad and miserable.
I climbed up
Ben Sgrìobain
VII
I climbed up
Ben Sgrìobain
and Laigheabhal Mhòr
with it’s spotted horses
VIII
and Laigheabhal Mhòr
with it’s spotted horses
I didn’t find there
what I wanted,
IX
I didn’t find there
what I wanted,
A girl
with hair like a golden daisy.

Irish gaelic, Flora MacNeil version
I
A phiùthrag ‘s a phiuthar, hu ru
Ghaoil a phiuthar, hu ru
Nach truagh leat fhèin, ho ho ill eo
Nochd mo chumha, hu ru
II
Nach truagh leat fhèin, hu ru
nochd mo chumha, hu ru
Mi’m bothan beag, ho ho ill eo
ìseal cumhag, hu ru
III
Mi’m bothan beag, hu ru
ìseal cumhag, hu ru
Gun sgrath dhìon, ho ho ill eo
Gun lùb tughaidh, hu ru
IV
Gun sgrath dhìon air, hu ru
Gun lùb tughaidh hu ru, hu ru
Ach uisge nam beann, ho ho ill eo
Sìos ‘na shruth leis, hu ru
V (Calum Johnston version)
Ach uisge nam beann,
Sìos ‘na shruth leis,
’S mise bhean bhochd
chianail, dhuilich.
VI
’S mise bhean bhochd
chianail, dhuilich.
Dhìrich mi suas
Beinn an Sgrìobain,
VII
Dhìrich mi suas
Beinn an Sgrìobain,
’S Laigheabhal Mhòr (5)
nan each grìs-fhionn. (6)
VIII
’S Laigheabhal Mhòr
nan each grìs-fhionn.
Cha d’ fhuair mi ann,
na bha dhìth orm
IX
Cha d’ fhuair mi ann
na bha dhìth orm
Tè bhuidhe,
’s a falt mar dhìthein.

NOTE
1) “Can you not pity” or” Would you not pity me my mourning tonight”
2) “Small my dwelling”, or little bothy
3) or Gun lùb sìomain, (Without a roof-rope)
gun ghad tughaidh (or a wisp of thatch.)
4) “hillside wate like a running stream” or “Water from the peaks in a stream down through it”
5) or Flora MacNeil version: Hèabhal mhòr= Mighty Heaval
Heaval is the highest hill of Barra Island located north-east of Castlebay, the main village.
6) or Flora MacNeil version: Nan each dhriumfhionn= with the white-maned horses.
Horses are those of fairies and therefore white. It could be the palomino or cremello breed. The origin of the Palomino is very old, in fact it is believed that golden horses with tail and silver mane were ridden by the first emperors of China. Achilles, the mythical Greek hero, rode Balios and Xantos, which were “yellow and golden, faster than the storm winds”. The cremello instead has the particularity of the blue eye, the coat is white with silver reflections.

A Fairy Plaint (Ceol-brutha)

The version of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (as collected by the song of Mrs. Macdonald, Skallary, Isle of Barra

Kenneth MacLeod lyrics
Would you not pity me, o sister?
O hi o hu o ho
Would you not pity me my mourning tonight?
O hi o hu o ho
My little hut
Without a bent rope or a wisp of thatch
Water from the peaks
in a stream down through it
But that’s not the cause of my sorrow

Nach truagh leat fhéin phiùthrag a phiuthar
O hi o hu o ho
Nach truagh leat fhéin nochd mo cumha
O hi o hu o ho
Nach truagh leat fhéin nochd mo cumha
‘S mise bhean bhochd chianail dhubhach
‘S mise bhean bhochd chianail dhubhach
Mi’m bothan beag iosal cumhann
Mi’m bothan beag iosal cumhann
Gun lùb siomain gun sop tughaibh
Gun lùb siomain gun sop tughaibh
Uisge nam beann sios ‘na shruth leis
Uisge nam beann sios ‘na shruth leis
Ged’s oil leam sin cha’n e chreach mi
Ged’s oil leam sin cha’n e chreach mi
Cha’n e chuir mi cha’n e fhras mi

Rory Dall’s Sister’s Lament

Cumh Peathar Ruari — Rory Dall’s Sister’s Lament was composed by Daniel Dow about 1778 (in A Collection of Ancient Scots Music for the violin, harpsichord or German flute) referring to the analysis of the melody here

Ossian in “Borders” 1984

Sources
http://www.omniglot.com/songs/gaelic/aphiuthrag.php
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/maggiemacinnes/aphiuthrag.htmd http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/62594/9;jsessionid=89A212440240A80FF960AD2D4B425BD3
http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=11984
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandssongs/about/songs/supernatural/index.asp
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=69117

http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/tunes/CumhPeatharRuari/
https://thesession.org/tunes/15575
http://www.cynthiacathcart.com/articles/rory_dall_lament.html

Standing Stones by Loreena McKennitt

Una murder ballad composta da Loreena McKennitt seguendo i canoni della ballata tradizionale, per narrare una tragica storia d’amore finita nel sangue a causa della gelosia.
[A murder ballad composed by Loreena McKennitt following the canons of the traditional ballad, to tell a tragic love story ended in blood because of jealousy.]
Il geloso questa volta non è all’interno della coppia, ma è un promesso sposo respinto dalla ragazza, ci troviamo forse davanti ad un matrimonio combinato dalle famiglie mentre i due veri amanti si sposano in segreto con il rito dell’handfasting, scambiandosi le promesse in un luogo sacro, il cerchio di pietre degli Antenati.
[The jealous one this time is not within the couple, but he is a pretendent rejected by the girl; we are perhaps in front of a marriage combined by families while the two true lovers get married in secret with the handfasting, exchanging their votes in a sacred place, the circle of stones of the Ancestors.]

La storia è ambientata nelle isole Orcadi (Scozia) che custodiscono un grande santuario megalitico risalente al Neolitico, uno dei siti più antichi delle Isole Britanniche.
[The story is set in the Orkney Islands (Scotland) which house a large megalithic sanctuary dating back to the Neolithic, one of the oldest sites in the British Isles.]

Jim Richardson: Stones of Stenness (foto tratta da qui)

Loreena McKennitt in “Parallel Dreams”

I
In one of these lonely Orkney Isles
There dwelled a maiden fair.
Her cheeks were red, her eyes were blue/She had yellow, curling hair.
Which caught the eye and then the heart
Of one who could never be
A lover of so true a mind
Or fair a form as she.
II
Across the lake in Sandwick(1)
Dwelled a youth she held most true,
And ever since her infancy
He had watched these eyes so blue.
The land runs out to the sea
It’s a narrow neck of land
Where weird and grim the Standing Stones/ In a circle where they stand (2).
III
One bonny moonlight Christmas Eve
They met at that sad place.
With her heart in glee and the beams of love
Were shining on her face
When her lover came and he grasped her hand
And what loving words they said
They talked of future’s happy days,
As through the stones they strayed.
IV
They walked toward the lovers’ stone
And through it passed their hands.
They plighted there a constant troth
Sealed by love’s steadfast bands
He kissed his maid and then he watched her
That lonely bridge go o’er.
For little, little did he think
He wouldn’t see his darling more.
bridge
Standing Stones of the Orkney Isles
Gazing out to sea
Standing Stones of the Orkney Isles
Bring my love to me.
V
He turned his face toward his home
That home he did never see
And you shall have the story
As it was told to me.
When a form upon him sprang
With a dagger gleaming bright
It pierced his heart and his dying screams
Disturbed the silent night.
VI
This maid had nearly reached her home
When she was startled by a cry.
And she turned to look around her
And her love was standing by
His hand was pointing to the stars
And his eyes gazed at the light.
And with a smiling countenance
He vanished from her sight.
VII
She quickly turned and home she ran
Not a word of this was said,
For well she knew at seeing his form
That her faithful love was dead.
And from that day she pined away,
Not a smile seen on her face,
And with outstretched arms she went to meet him
In a brighter place.

Traduzione italiana Cattia Salto
I
In una delle solitarie isole Orcadi
viveva una dama bella-
aveva guance di rosa e occhi azzurri,
aveva capelli biondi e fluenti
che catturarono prima lo sguardo e poi il cuore
di uno che non sarebbe mai stato degno di un’anima così sincera o leale come la sua.
II
Oltre il lago a Sandwick viveva un giovane a cui lei teneva davvero e fin dalla sua infanzia, lui aveva ammirato quegli occhi così azzurri.
La terra si esaurisce nel mare,
in uno stretto lembo di terra
dove strani e sinistri i Menhir
stanno in cerchio.
III
In una bella vigilia di Natale al chiaro di luna s’incontrarono in quel posto triste
lei con il cuore contento
e i tremiti d’amore
che le brillavano sul viso;
poi il suo innamorato giunse e la prese per mano,
tante parole d’amore si dissero,
parlarono dei loro futuri giorni felici
mentre tra le pietre passeggiavano.
IV
Camminarono fino alla pietra degli amanti
e attraverso ad essa passarono le mani e stipularono là un patto di fedeltà sigillato dal laccio d’amore.
Lui baciò la sposa e poi la guardò
andare oltre quel ponte solitario,
per un solo istante pensò che non avrebbe più rivisto il suo amore!
bridge
Menhir delle isole Orcadi
che contemplate il mare
Menhir delle isole Orcadi
riportate il mio amore da me
V
Lui diresse lo sguardo verso casa
quella casa che non aveva mai visto
e voi dovreste conoscere la storia
come mi fu narrata.
Ecco una sagoma su di lui si gettò
con uno stiletto scintillante
gli trafisse il cuore e i suoi gemiti da moribondo
turbarono la notte silenziosa.
VI
La fanciulla aveva quasi raggiunto casa
quando fu scossa da un grido
e si guardò intorno
e il suo amore stava dritto in piedi
con la mano puntava alle stelle
e gli occhi fissavano la luce,
poi con una espressione sorridente
svanì alla sua vista.
VII
Veloce si voltò e corse verso casa
non disse una parola di ciò,
perchè bene sapeva da quello che aveva visto che il suo amore fedele era morto.
E da quel giorno lei languiva,
non un sorriso si vedeva sul suo viso,
e a braccia aperte andò a incontrarlo in un posto più luminoso

NOTE
1) Sandwick (dal norreno con significato Sandy Bay) è un villaggio sulla costa ovest della Mainland l’isola principale delle Orcadi
[Sandwick (from Old Norse with meaning Sandy Bay) is a village on the west coast of Mainland, the main island of Orkney]
2) si tratta delle Pietre erette di Stenness (Stones of Stenness) accanto al lago omonimo. Una pietra, conosciuta come la “Pietra di Odino”, aveva un buco circolare che veniva usato dalle coppie locali per scambiarsi le promesse. Si svolgevano attorno alla pietra anche altre cerimonie curative. La pietra fu distrutta da un contadino del luogo nel 1814 stanco dei turisti e dei rituali che si svolgevano intorno ai menhir vicini ai suoi campi. Della pietra con il foro ci restano solo dei disegni. Il sito di Stennes presenta delle pietro molto alte (5 metri) ma il cerchio più grande anche se meno imponente si trova poco distante detto Cerchio di Brodgar (Ring of Brodgar)
[it is the Standing Stones of Stenness next to the lake of the same name. A stone, known as the “Odin Stone”, had a circular hole that was used by local couples to exchange promises. Other healing ceremonies took place around the stone. The stone was destroyed by a local peasant in 1814 tired of tourists and rituals that took place around the menhirs near his fields. Only the drawings remain of the stone with the hole. The site of Stennes has very high stones (5 meters) but the largest circle, although less impressive, is located not far from the Ring of Brodgar]

LINK
http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brodgar/

Tiree love song: the green island of Tiree

Leggi in italiano

The Isle of Tiree of the Inner Hebrides is a stretch of green machair in which myriads of yellow buttercups emerge, a land almost completely flat that houses seem to rise from the sea; the island is always sunny and the strong winds assist windsurfers and kitesurfers, even keeping mosquitoes away!
In the nineteenth century Tiree counted 4500 ab definitely too much for its resources, so the duke of Argyll implemented assisted migration (in fact a typical maneuver by Highland Clearances) and between 1841 and 1881 more than 3600 people emigrated to Canada, United States, Australia and New Zealand.
In Gaelic it is called “tir-lodh” – ‘the land of corn’ from the days of the 6th century Celtic missionary and abbot St Columba. Tiree provided the monastic community on the island of Iona, south east of the island, with grain, and it seems that several monks settled there at St Patrick’s Chapel, Ceann a ‘Mhara and Soroby.

THE SOUND OF ANCIENT SCOTLAND

Tiree is an island with ancient settlements, renowned for its Clach a’Choire (the stone cauldron) or even Choire Fhionn MhicChumhail (the cauldron of Finn mac Cumaill). The name identifies a natural amphitheater near the village of Balephetrish (Vaul), a probable mythical center in prehistoric and medieval times, where the Ringing Stone is found, which emits a sharp and metallic sound similar to that of the gong or the bells when it is hit: the stone looks like a big egg on the spoon, legend has it that the boulder was thrown by a giant of Mull and if ever it was split the island would sink into the sea.
...a ‘rock gong’ similar to Clach a’ Choire, listed by John MacKenzie (1845, p8) as one of the seven wonders of Scotland – a huge granite erratic covered with 53 cupmarks, the deepest of which are at the most resonant parts of the stone…According to Fagg (1997 p86), Clach a’ Choire was ‘said to contain a crock of gold – but if it ever split Tiree will disappear beneath the waves.’ If true (Mrs Fagg mistakenly attributes the staement to SHIS) the legend thus contains both a motive for destroying such stones and a warning against doing so…Compare Newton 1992 p145 where it is claimed that if Clach a’ Choire ‘ever shatters or falls off the pedestal of small stones on which it rests, Tiree will sink beneath the waves.’ (from The Gaelic Otherworld, ed Ronald Black, here)

The Kilmartin Sessions: The Sounds of Ancient Scotland

Photographic reportage from The Crow Clan here

The island is dedicated a love song of the late nineteenth century titled Tiree love song, a song originally written in Gaelic by Alexander Sinclair (Alasdair Neaill Oig), a wine and spirits merchant in Glasgow but a devoted “Tireeman”, being his family originally from the island.

SCOTTISH GAELIC VERSION: Am Falbh Thu Leam a Rìbhinn Òg (Will you come and go with me?)

In the song, he asks a young maiden to come with him over the sea where she will see everything she could desire in the isle of the west that once was his home: geese and white swans, views over the ocean to the neighbouring isles, the green meadows and the tranquillity of St Patrick’s chapel.He tells her of the songbirds, the bumble bees and the blaze on the cattle, the cormorants and ducks, the marram grass growing on the dunes and the fragrance of the machair flowers, all to be found on his favourite part of Argyll – the green island of Tiree.
The island abounds with ancient prehistoric remains or dating back to the time of St. Columba, next to the temple of St. Patrick we also find an ancient well with healing waters. Click on names on the interactive map in http://www.tireeplacenames.org/ to visit them all!!

Effie MacDonald of Middleton

(at the moment I did not find an English translation)
Séist
Am falbh thu leam a rìbhinn òg
No’n téid thu leam thar saile
Gum faic thu ann gach nì gu d’ mhiann
‘S an eilean shiar a dh’fhàg mi.
1
Ged nach faic thu coill’ no fiadh
Tha gèadh is eala bhàn ann
Cait’ bheil sealladh a chuain shiar
Nuair bhios na liadhan traighte.
2
Chì thu uiseag agus smeòrach
Lon dubh agus luachran
Seillean ruadh le mhil ‘s a ghàradh
‘S blàrag air gach buallan.
3
Chì thu sgairbh ‘tigh’nn ort o’n chuan;
Tha lachaidh ruadh a’ snamh ann;
Muran gorm a’ fàs m’ a bhruaich
Gach ceum mu ‘n cuairt d’ a’ thraighean
4
Cha ‘n fhaic thu nathair ann air grunnd
Ach luibhean ‘s cùbhraidh faileadh
A’ cinntinn ann bho linn gu linn
‘S an tìr ‘s an d’fhuair mi m’ àrach

ENGLISH “VERSION” Tiree love song

The transposition in English is by Hugh S. Roberton, already the author of the very popular songsThe Mingulay Boat Song, Westering Home and Mairi’s Wedding, who makes a text re-elaboration rather than a translation and publishes it in his book Songs of the Isles (1950)

The Corries
Ryan’s Fancy (II, I, III)

II
All the day long, out on the peat (2)
Then by the shore (3) in the gloaming
Stepping it lightly with dancing feet
And we together roaming
III
Laughter o’ love! Singing galore!
Tripping it lightsome and airy:
Could we be asking of life for more,
My own, my darling Mary?

NOTES
1) or “smell”
2) or “All together down by the sea”,
3) or “Down by the sea”

LINK
http://www.tireeplacenames.org/
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/69928/1/LuckyDip
https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/6138/An-island-dream-discovering-Tiree-by-bike
http://www.aniodhlann.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016.14.1.pdf
http://www.aniodhlann.org.uk/sounds-clips/
http://www.aniodhlann.org.uk/object/1997-232-10/
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10536
http://gestsongs.com/11/tiree.htm

Tiree Love Song/Am Falbh Thu Leam a Rìbhinn Òg

Read the post in English

L’Isola di Tiree delle Ebridi interne è una distesa di verde machair in cui spuntano miriadi di ranuncoli gialli, una terra quasi del tutto piatta che le case sembrano sorgere dal mare; l’isola è sempre soleggiata e i forti venti assistono gli appassionati di windsurf e di kitesurfe tenendo anche lontane le zanzare!
Nell’Ottocento l’isola contava 4500 ab decisamente troppi per le sue risorse, così il duca di Argyll attuò la migrazione assistita (in realtà una tipica manovra da Highland Clearances) e tra il 1841 e il 1881 più di 3600 persone emigrarono in Canada, Stati Uniti, Australia e Nuova Zelanda.
In gaelico è detta “tir-lodh” – la terra del grano perchè riforniva la comunità monastica della vicina Iona e sembra che vi si siano insediati diversi monaci presso la St Patrick’s Chapel, Ceann a’ Mhara e Soroby.

IL SUONO DEGLI ANTICHI SCOZZESI

Tiree è un’isola con antichi insediamenti, rinomata per la sua Clach a’Choire (il calderone di pietra) o anche Choire Fhionn MhicChumhail (il calderone di Finn mac Cumaill). Il nome individua un anfiteatro naturale in prossimità del villaggio di Balephetrish (Vaul) probabile centro mitico in epoca preistorica e medievale in cui si trova la Ringing Stone (la pietra canterina) che emette un suono acuto e metallico simile a quello del gong o delle campane quando viene colpita: sembra un grosso uovo sul cucchiaio ed è una pietra coppellata risalente al megalitico. La leggenda vuole che il masso sia stato lanciato da un gigante di Mull e se mai venisse spaccato l’isola s’inabisserebbe nel mare.
...un ‘rock gong’ simile alla Clach a ‘Choire, elencata da John MacKenzie (1845, p8) come una delle sette meraviglie della Scozia – un enorme masso erratico di granito coperto da 53 coppelle, le più profonde sono nelle parti più risonanti della pietra … Secondo Fagg (1997 p86), secondo la tradizione la Clach a ‘Choire conteneva dell’oro – ma se mai dovesse rompersi, Tiree sparirà sotto le onde. Se fosse vera (la signora Fagg attribuisce erroneamente l’affermazione a SHIS) la leggenda contiene quindi sia un motivo per distruggere tali pietre sia un avvertimento a non farlo … Confronta Newton 1992 p145 dove si afferma che se la Clach a ‘Choire dovesse mai frantumarsi o cade dal piedistallo di piccole pietre su cui poggia, Tiree affonderà sotto le onde’ (tratto da The Gaelic Otherworld, ed Ronald Black, qui)

da ascoltare nel cd The Kilmartin Sessions: The Sounds of Ancient Scotland

Reportage fotografico dal The Crow Clan qui

All’isola è dedicata una love song di fine ottocento dal titolo Tiree love song, una canzone in origine scritta in gaelico da Alexander Sinclair (Alasdair Neaill Oig), un commerciante di vini e alcolici residente a Glasgow ma un devoto “Tireeman”, essendo la sua famiglia originaria dell’isola.

LA VERSIONE IN GAELICO SCOZZESE: Am Falbh Thu Leam a Rìbhinn Òg (Will you come and go with me?)

Nella canzone il protagonista chiede a una giovane fanciulla di seguirlo oltre il mare per visitare l’isola di Tiree dove potrà trovare le cose più desiderabili: vaste colonie di uccelli marini, una vista sull’oceano e le vicine isole, verdi prati con api e il bestiame e la cappella di San Patrizio. L’isola abbonda di antichi resti preistorici o risalenti all’epoca di San Columba, accanto al tempio di san Patrizio troviamo anche un antico pozzo dalle acque curative. Cliccate in nomi sulla mappa interattiva in http://www.tireeplacenames.org/ per visitarli tutti!!

l’altura di Kenevara nell’isola di Tiree

Effie MacDonald di Middleton

(al momento non ho trovato una traduzione in inglese)
Séist
Am falbh thu leam a rìbhinn òg
No’n téid thu leam thar saile
Gum faic thu ann gach nì gu d’ mhiann
‘S an eilean shiar a dh’fhàg mi.
1
Ged nach faic thu coill’ no fiadh
Tha gèadh is eala bhàn ann
Cait’ bheil sealladh a chuain shiar
Nuair bhios na liadhan traighte.
2
Chì thu uiseag agus smeòrach
Lon dubh agus luachran
Seillean ruadh le mhil ‘s a ghàradh
‘S blàrag air gach buallan.
3
Chì thu sgairbh ‘tigh’nn ort o’n chuan;
Tha lachaidh ruadh a’ snamh ann;
Muran gorm a’ fàs m’ a bhruaich
Gach ceum mu ‘n cuairt d’ a’ thraighean
4
Cha ‘n fhaic thu nathair ann air grunnd
Ach luibhean ‘s cùbhraidh faileadh
A’ cinntinn ann bho linn gu linn
‘S an tìr ‘s an d’fhuair mi m’ àrach

LA VERSIONE IN INGLESE: Tiree love song

La trasposizione in inglese è di Hugh S. Roberton, già autore delle popolarissime canzoni The Mingulay Boat Song, Westering Home e Mairi’s Wedding, il quale ne fa una rielaborazione testuale più che una traduzione e la pubblica nel suo libro Songs of the Isles (1950)

The Corries
Ryan’s Fancy (II, I, III)

CHORUS
He-ree he-ro my bonnie wee girl
He-ree he-ro my fair one
Will you come away my love
To be my own my rare one
I
Smiling the land! Smiling the sea!
Sweet is the scent(1) of the heather.
Would we were yonder,
just you and me,
The two of us together!
II
All the day long, out on the peat (2)
Then by the shore (3) in the gloaming
Stepping it lightly with dancing feet
And we together roaming
III
Laughter o’ love! Singing galore!
Tripping it lightsome and airy:
Could we be asking of life for more,
My own, my darling Mary?

Traduzione italiana Cattia Salto
Coro
He-ree he-ro mia bella ragazzina,
He-ree he-ro mia bella.
Vuoi venire con me, mia cara
per essere la mia diletta?
I
Terra ridente! Mare ridente!
Dolce è il profumo dell’erica
potremmo stare laggiù,
solo tu ed io,
noi due insieme!
II
Per tutto il giorno, sulla piana
e poi alla spiaggia nel crepuscolo
con passo lieve di danza
insieme vagheremo
III
Risate d’amore! Canti a iosa!
Saltellando allegri e spensierati
Potremmo chiedere di più alla vita,
mia cara Mary?

NOTE
1) oppure “smell”
2) oppure “All together down by the sea”,
3) oppure “Down by the sea”

FONTI
http://www.tireeplacenames.org/
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/69928/1/LuckyDip
https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/6138/An-island-dream-discovering-Tiree-by-bike
http://www.aniodhlann.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016.14.1.pdf
http://www.aniodhlann.org.uk/sounds-clips/
http://www.aniodhlann.org.uk/object/1997-232-10/
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10536
http://gestsongs.com/11/tiree.htm

Twa Bonnie Maidens, a jacobite song

Leggi in italiano

“Twa Bonnie Maidens” is a jacobite song published by James Hogg in “Jacobite Relics”, Volume II (1819). It refers to the occasion when Bonnie Prince Charlie sailed with Flora MacDonald from the Outer Hebrides to Skye, dressed as Flora’s maid. The event described here took place during Bonnie Prince Charlie’s months in hiding after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden (April 16, 1746). By late July, the Hannoverians thought they had Charlie pinned down in the outer Hebrides.

IL PRINCIPE E LA BALLERINA

The prince had managed to get to the Island of Banbecula of the Outer Hebrides, but the surveillance was very tight and had no way to escape. And here comes Flora MacDonald.
In the anecdotal version of the story, Flora devised a trick to take away Charlie from the island : on the pretext of visiting her mother (who lived in Armadale after remarried), she obtained the safe-conduct for herself and her two servants; under the name and clothes of the Irish maid Betty Burke, however, it was hidden the Bonny Prince!: Il Principe e la Ballerina

Flora MacDonald's Introduction to Bonnie Prince Charlie di Alexander Johnston (1815-1891) — “Flora MacDonald’s Introduction to Bonnie Prince Charlie” di Alexander Johnston (1815-1891)

TWA BONNIE MAIDENS

Hogg took the Gaelic words down from a Mrs. Betty Cameron from Lochaber.
“Was copied verbatim from the mouth of Mrs Betty Cameron from Lochaber ; a well-known character over a great part of the Lowlands, especially for her great store of Jacobite songs, and her attachment to Prince Charles, and the chiefs that suffered for him, of whom she never spoke without bursting out a-crying. She said it was from the Gaelic ; but if it is, I think it is likely to have been translated by herself. There is scarcely any song or air that I love better.”
Quadriga Consort from “Ships Ahoy ! – Songs of Wind, Water & Tide” 2011 ♪
Marais & Miranda from A European Folk Song Festival 2012 (I, III)
Archie Fisher from “The Man with a Rhyme” 1976

I
There were twa bonnie maidens,
and three bonnie maidens,
Cam’ ower the Minc (1),
and cam’ ower the main,
Wi’ the wind for their way
and the corrie (2) for their hame,
And they’re dearly welcome
tae Skye again.
Chorus
Come alang, come alang,
wi’ your boatie and your song,
Tae my hey! bonnie maidens,
my twa bonnie maids!
The nicht, it is dark,
and the redcoat is gane,
And you’re dearly welcome
tae Skye again.
II
There is Flora (3), my honey,
sae neat and sae bonnie,
And ane that is tall,
and handsome withall.
Put the ane for my Queen
and the ither for my King (4)
And they’re dearly welcome
tae Skye again.
III (5)
There’s a wind on the tree,
and a ship on the sea,
Tae my hey! bonnie maidens,
my twa bonnie maids!
By the sea mullet’s nest (6)
I will watch o’er the main,
And you’re dearly welcome
tae Skye again.

English translation Cattia Salto
I
There were two pretty maidens,
and three pretty maidens,
Came over the Minch ,
and came over the main,
With the wind for their way
and the mountains for their hame,
And they’re dearly welcome
to Skye again.
Chorus
Come along, come along,
wi’ your boat and your song,
To my hey! pretty maidens,
my two pretty girls!
The night, it is dark,
and the redcoat is gone,
And you’re dearly welcome
to Skye again.
II
There is Flora, my honey,
so neat and so pretty,
And one that is tall,
and handsome withall.
Put the one for my Queen
and the other for my King
And they’re dearly welcome
to Skye again.
III
There’s a wind on the tree,
and a ship on the sea,
To my hey! pretty maidens,
my two pretty girls!
By the sea mullet’s nest
I will watch over the main,
And you’re dearly welcome
to Skye again.

NOTES
1) Minch=channel between the Outer and Inner Hebrides
2) corry=a hollow space or excavation in a hillside
3) Flora MacDonald
4) Bonnie Prince Charlie
5) the stanza is a synthesis between the III and the IV of the version reported by Hogg
6) The Nest Point is another striking view on the western tip of the Isle of Skye (on the opposite side of Portree), an excellent spot to watch the Minch the stretch of sea that separates the Highlands of the north west and the north of Skye from the Harris Islands and Lewis, told by the ancient Norse “Fjord of Scotland”
At the time of the Jacobite uprising there was still no Lighthouse designed and built by Alan Stevenson in the early 1900s.

TUNE: Planxty George Brabazon or Prince Charlie’s Welcome To The Isle Of Skye?

The Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan (the last of the great itinerant irish harper-composers) wrote some arias in homage to his guests and patrons, whom he called “planxty”, whose text in Irish Gaelic (not received) praised the nobleman on duty or commemorated an event; the melodies are free and lively with different measures (not necessarily in triplets). With the title of George Brabazon two distinct melodies attributed to Carolan are known.
“George Brabazon” was retitled in Scotland “Prince Charlie’s Welcome to the Island of Skye” in honor of the Pretender as the vehicle for the song “Twa Bonnie Maidens.” It also appears in the Gow’s Complete Repository, Part Second (1802) under the title “Isle of Sky” (sic), set as a Scots Measure and with some melodic differences in the second part. This is significant, for it predates the earliest Irish source (O’Neill) by a century.
Source “The Fiddler’s Companion” (cf. Liens).
J.J. Sheridan
Siobhan Mcdonnell

The Chieftains in Water From the Well 2000

“Over the Sea to Skye”

Link
http://chrsouchon.free.fr/twabonny.htm
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25774
http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_maidens.htm
https://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Twa_Bonnie_Maidens.shtml
https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/see-and-do/location-a-coilleag-a-phrionnsa-bonnie-prince-charlie-trail-p538071

https://thesession.org/tunes/1609
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=46578
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=19657
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=6422
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=9152

Twa Bonnie Maidens

Read the post in English

“Twa Bonnie Maidens” (in italiano “Due graziose fanciulle”) è una canzone giacobita pubblicata da James Hogg in “Jacobite Relics”, Volume II (1819) che celebra l’arrivo nell’isola di Skye di una barchetta con due belle fanciulle, senonchè l’ancella di Flora Macdonald è il nostro Bel Carletto travestito, nella sua fuga dalla Scozia, dopo la disfatta della rivolta giacobita nella rovinosa battaglia di Culloden (1746).

IL PRINCIPE E LA BALLERINA

Il principe era riuscito ad arrivare nell’isola di Banbecula delle Ebridi Esterne, ma la sorveglianza era strettissima e non aveva modo di fuggire. Ed ecco che entra in scena la fanciulla, Flora MacDonald.
Nella versione anedottica della storia, Flora escogitò un trucco per portare via dall’isola Charlie: con il pretesto di andare a trovare la madre (che viveva ad Armadale dopo essersi risposata), ottenne per sè e per i due suoi domestici il salvacondotto; sotto il nome e gli abiti della cameriera irlandese Betty Burke però si celava il Bonny Prince!: Il Principe e la Ballerina

TWA BONNIE MAIDENS

Hogg trascrisse il testo dalla testimonianza della signora Betty Cameron di Lochaber, la quale affermava che originariamente la canzone fosse in gaelico scozzese. Così scrive Hogg
“È stato copiato letteralmente dalla bocca della signora Betty Cameron di Lochaber; un personaggio ben noto in gran parte delle Lowlands, specialmente per la sua grande quantità di canzoni giacobite, e il suo attaccamento al principe Carlo, e ai capi che soffrirono per lui, dei quali non parlò mai senza scoppiare a piangere. Disse che la canzone era dal gaelico; ma se lo è, penso che probabilmente l’ha tradotta lei stessa. Non c’è quasi nessuna canzone o aria che amo di più”
Quadriga Consort in “Ships Ahoy ! – Songs of Wind, Water & Tide” 2011 ♪
Marais & Miranda in A European Folk Song Festival 2012 (strofe I, III)
Archie Fisher in “The Man with a Rhyme” 1976

Traduzione italiana Cattia Salto
I
C’erano due graziose fanciulle
e tre fanciulle belle
che attraversarono il Minch
oltre il mare
sospinte dal vento a favore
e accolte dalle nostre montagne
sono sinceramente le benvenute
a Skye
Coro
Venite, venite
con la vostra barchetta e la vostra canzone, belle fanciulle,
mie due fanciulle belle!
La notte è buia
e le giubbe rosse sono partite,
voi siete sinceramente le benvenute
a Skye.
II
C’è Flora, la mia diletta;
così forte e bella
e uno che è alto
e anche bello.
Metti l’una come Regina
e l’altro come Re
sono sinceramente le benvenute
a Skye
III
C’è il vento all’albero
e una barca nel mare
belle fanciulle,
mie due fanciulle belle!
Dal nido di triglie
sorveglierò il mare
voi siete sinceramente le benvenute
a Skye.

NOTE
1) Minch=canale tra le Ebridi esterne e le Ebridi interne
2) corry=una nicchia o uno scavo nella collina
3) 3) Flora MacDonald
4) Bonnie Prince Charlie
5) la strofa è una sintesi tra la III e la IV della versione riportata da Hogg
6) i due sbarcarono nel villaggio di Portree. Il Nest Point è invece un altro suggestivo panorama sulla punta occidentale dell’isola di Skye (sul lato opposto di Portree), ottimo punto per guardare il Minch il tratto di mare che separa le Highlands do nord ovest e il nord di Skye dalle isole Harris e Lewis, detto dagli antichi Norreni “Fiordo della Scozia”
Ai tempi della rivolta giacobita non esisteva ancora il Faro progettato e costruito da Alan Stevenson nei primi anni del 900.

LA MELODIA: Planxty George Brabazon o Prince Charlie’s Welcome To The Isle Of Skye?

L’arpista irlandese Turlough O’Carolan (ricordato come l’ultimo dei bardi-arpisti itineranti) scrisse alcune arie in omaggio ai suoi ospiti e mecenati, che chiamava “planxty”, il cui testo in gaelico irlandese (non pervenuto) elogiava il nobile di turno o ne commemorava un evento; le melodie sono libere e vivaci con tempi diversi (non necessariamente in terzine). Con il titolo di George Brabazon si conoscono due distinte melodie attribuite a Carolan.
“George Brabazon”è stato rititolato in Scozia “Prince Charlie’s Welcome to the Island of Skye” in onore del Pretendente come veicolo per la canzone “Twa Bonnie Maidens”. Appare anche nel Complete Repository di Gow, Parte Seconda (1802) con il titolo “Isle di Sky “(sic), suonato come una Scots Measure e con alcune differenze melodiche nella seconda parte. Questo è significativo, perché precede la prima fonte irlandese (O’Neill) di un secolo.
Fonte “The Fiddler’s Companion” (cf. Liens).

J.J. Sheridan
Siobhan Mcdonnell

The Chieftains in Water From the Well 2000

“Over the Sea to Skye”

FONTI
http://chrsouchon.free.fr/twabonny.htm
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25774
http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_maidens.htm
https://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Twa_Bonnie_Maidens.shtml
https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/see-and-do/location-a-coilleag-a-phrionnsa-bonnie-prince-charlie-trail-p538071

Outlander book: giving a new wife a fish

Leggi in italiano

FROM OUTLANDER BOOK

In the first book of the Outlander saga written by Diana Gabaldon chapter 16 Jamie recites, the day after their wedding, an old love song to Claire, giving her a fish.

“A good size,” he said proudly, holding out a solid fourteen-incher. “Do nicely for breakfast.” He grinned up at me, wet to the thighs, hair hanging in his face, shirt splotched with water and dead leaves. “I told you I’d not let ye go hungry.”
He wrapped the trout in layers of burdock leaves and cool mud. Then he rinsed his fingers in the cold water of the burn, and clambering up onto the rock, handed me the neatly wrapped parcel.
“An odd wedding present, may be,” he nodded at the trout, “
“It’s an old love song, from the Isles. D’ye want to hear it?”
“Yes, of course. Er, in English, if you can,” I added.
“Oh, aye. I’ve no voice for music, but I’ll give you the words.” And fingering the hair back out of his eyes, he recited,
“Thou daughter of the King of bright-lit mansions
On the night that our wedding is on us,
If living man I be in Duntulm,
I will go bounding to thee with gifts.
Thou wilt get a hundred badgers, dwellers in banks,
A hundred brown otters, natives of streams,
a hundred silver trout, rising from their pools

A nighean righ nan roiseal soluis

Alexander Carmichael in his “Carmina Gadelica” Vol II, reports the fragment of this old Scottish Gaelic song, translating into English, and assuming that the author was a Macdonalds of the Isle of Skye. (a clan renowned for the poetic fame of its exponents of prominence)
Skye is probably the island of the Hebrides more similar to the land of Avalon, privileged location of many fantasy films, but more recently a inflated destination for mass tourism (with all the negative aspects of high prices, streets overcrowded by tourist buses and even to the most inaccessible destinations you risk finding yourself in a large company)

English translation *
I
Thou daughter of the king of bright-lit mansions,
On the night that our wedding is on us,/If living man I be in Duntulm
I will go bounding to thee with gifts.
II
Thou wilt get an hundred badgers dwellers in banks,
An hundred brown otters native of streams,
Thou wilt get an hundred wild stags that will not come/ To the green pastures of the high glens.
III
Thou wilt get an hundred steeds stately and swift,
An hundred reindeer intractable in summer,
And thou wilt get an hundred hummelled red hinds,
That will not go in stall in the Wolfmonth of winter

Scottish Gaelic
I
A nighean righ nan roiseal soluis (1),
An oidhche bhios oirnne do bhanais,
Ma ’s fear beo mi an Duntuilm (2)
Theid mi toirleum (3) da d’earrais.
II
Gheobh tu ciad bruicean tadhal bruach,
Ciad dobhran donn, dualach alit,
Gheobh tu ciad damh alluidh nach tig
Gu innis ard ghleannaidh. (4)
III
Gheobh to ciad steud stadach, luath,
Ciad bràc (5) bruaill an t-samhraidh,
’S gheobh tu ciad maoilseach (6) maol, ruadh,
Nach teid am buabhall am Faoileach (7) geamhraidh

NOTES
* Alexander Carmicheal
1) roiseal soluis= fine bright light or display of light,
2) Duntulm (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Thuilm) is a township on the most northerly point of the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle Of Skye. The village is most notable for the coastal scenery coupled with the ruins of Duntulm Castle,
3) tòirleum: leum bras
4) Diana Gabaldon concludes the poem by adding a verse that recalls the comic situation created between the two protagonists “a hundred silver trout, rising from their pools”
5) bràc= brae= Beurla (reindeer)
6) bean an fhèid
7) Faoilteach

The symbolism of matrimonial gifts is evident: the abundance of herds is auspicious for the fertility of the couple.

LINK
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2106.htm
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/carminagadelicah02carm.pdf
http://luideagbheag.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-nigheann-righ-nan-roiseal-soluis.html

https://www.thecastlesofscotland.co.uk/the-best-castles/scenic-castles/duntulm-castle/
https://50sfumaturediviaggio.com/2017/07/01/isola-di-skye-informazioni-generali/
https://50sfumaturediviaggio.com/2017/06/30/isola-di-skye-4-giorni-tra-le-nuvole/

Outlander: i regali dello sposo

Read the post in English

DAL LIBRO LA STRANIERA

Nel primo libro della saga Outlander scritto da Diana Gabaldon il capitolo 16 Jamie recita, il giorno dopo il loro matrimonio, una vecchia canzone d’amore a Claire, dandole una trota appena pescata con le mani.
“E una vecchia canzone d’amore, viene dalle Isole. Vuoi sentirla?”
“Si, certo. Ehm in inglese, se puoi” aggiunsi.
“Oh, aye. Non sono granchè intonato, ma posso dirti le parole” E, togliendosi le ciocche dei capelli dagli occhi, recitò:
“Tu, figlia del re dei castelli illuminati a giorno,
la sera del nostro matrimonio,
se ancora uomo vivo sarò a Duntulm,
a grandi balzi verrò da te pieno di doni.
Avrai cento tassi, che dimorano in riva ai fiumi,
cento lontre brune, native dei torrenti..

A nighean righ nan roiseal soluis

Alexander Carmichael nel suo “Carmina Gadelica” Vol II, riporta il frammento di questa vecchia scottish song in gaelico scozzese, facendone la traduzione in inglese, supponendo che l’autore sia stato un Macdonalds delle Isole (clan rinomato per la fama poetica dei suoi esponenti di spicco) dell’isola di Skye.
Skye è probabilmente l’isola delle Ebridi più simile alla terra di Avalon, location privilegiata di molti film fantasy e non, e più recentemente meta inflazionata del turismo di massa (con tutti gli aspetti negativi dei prezzi gonfiati, le strade sovraffollate dai bus turistici e anche alle mete più impervie rischiate di trovarvi in numerosa compagnia)

I
A nighean righ nan roiseal soluis (1),
An oidhche bhios oirnne do bhanais,
Ma ’s fear beo mi an Duntuilm (2)
Theid mi toirleum (3) da d’earrais.
II
Gheobh tu ciad bruicean tadhal bruach,
Ciad dobhran donn, dualach alit,
Gheobh tu ciad damh alluidh nach tig
Gu innis ard ghleannaidh.
III
Gheobh to ciad steud stadach, luath,
Ciad bràc (5) bruaill an t-samhraidh,
’S gheobh tu ciad maoilseach (6) maol, ruadh,
Nach teid am buabhall am Faoileach (7) geamhraidh

traduzione inglese *
I
Thou daughter of the king of bright-lit mansions (1),
On the night that our wedding is on us,/If living man I be in Duntulm (2)
I will go bounding to thee with gifts.
II (4)
Thou wilt get an hundred badgers dwellers in banks,
An hundred brown otters native of streams,
Thou wilt get an hundred wild stags that will not come/ To the green pastures of the high glens.
III
Thou wilt get an hundred steeds stately and swift,
An hundred reindeer intractable in summer,
And thou wilt get an hundred hummelled red hinds,
That will not go in stall in the Wolfmonth of winter

Traduzione italiana**
[Tu, figlia del re dei castelli illuminati a giorno,
la sera del nostro matrimonio
se ancora uomo vivo sarò a Duntulm, a grandi balzi verrò da te pieno di doni.
II
Avrai cento tassi, che dimorano in riva ai fiumi,
cento lontre brune, native dei torrenti]
Avrai cento cervi
che non andranno
sui verdi pascoli degli altopiani.
III
Avrai cento destrieri maestosi e dal piè veloce,
cento renne difficili da trattare in estate
Avrai cento cervi rossi senza corna
che non andranno nella stalla nel mese invernale di Gennaio.

NOTE
* Alexander Carmicheal
** Cattia Salto fuori dalle [ ]
1) letteralmente roiseal soluis= fine bright light or display of light, se fosse una fiaba verrebbe voglia di tradurre come “re della schiera luminosa” e prosegue “la notte del nostro matrimonio è alle porte”
2) Duntulm Castle è un castello diroccato su uno spuntone di roccia sulla costa settentrionale di Trotternish , nell’isola di Skye. Sede del clan Mac Donald di Sleat a partire dal Seicento è stato abbandonato nell’anno del 1730.
3) tòirleum: leum bras
4) Diana Gabaldon conclude il poema aggiungendo un verso che richiama la situazione comica creatasi tra i due protagonisti “cento argentee trote, che saltano dagli stagni”
5) bràc= brae= Beurla (reindeer)
6) bean an fhèid
7) Faoilteach

Il simbolismo dei doni matrimoniali è evidente: l’abbondanza degli armenti è benaugurale per la fertilità della coppia.

FONTI
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2106.htm
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/carminagadelicah02carm.pdf
http://luideagbheag.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-nigheann-righ-nan-roiseal-soluis.html

Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie

Leggi in italiano

“Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie” (or “Bonnie Glenshee”) is a scottis traditional song great favourite with Scots Travellers, from an old Perthshire tune, with little concrete information about it . The lyrics inserts in the common theme of the girls who would like to follow their love enlisted as a soldier (or sailor) disguised as a man to stay beside him, but they are dissuaded to remain at home. MacColl and Seeger included “Busk,Busk, Bonnie Lassie” (“Bonnie Glen Shee”) in Travellers Songs from England and Scotland, 1977, as sung by Charlotte Higgins. They say: “This piece does not appear in any of the major Scots collections. It is a kind of mirror-image of ‘O No, No’, a song of the ‘Lisbon / banks of the Nile’ genre, in which a girl’s plea that she should be allowed to accompany her lover to war is rejected on the grounds that her beauty would fade and her colour stain when exposed to the frost and rain of the highlands.” (from Charlotte Higgins see more)

Here the boy invites his girlfriend to a last romantic walk (probably a love meeting with exchange of votes) for Glen Isla before leaving the war.

Shona Anderson & Terry Dey

The Corries — Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie

I
Do you see yon high hills (1)
All covered with snow
They hae pairted mony’s a true love
And they’ll soon pairt us twa
Chorus
Busk, busk, bonny lassie
And come alang wi me
And I’ll tak ye tae Glen Isla
Near bonny Glen Shee
II
Do you see yon (bonny) shepherds,
As they walk alang
Wi their plaidies pulled aboot them
And their sheep they graze on
III
Do you see yon (bonny) sodjers
As they all march alang
Wi their muskets on their shouders
And their broadswords hinging doon
IV
Do you see yon high hills
All covered with snow
They hae pairted mony’s a true love
And they’ll soon pairt us twa

English translation Cattia Salto
I
Do you see yon high hills
All covered with snow
They have parted many’s a true love
And they’ll soon part us two
Chorus
Get ready get ready bonny lassie
And come along with me
And I’ll take you to Glen Isla
Near bonny Glen Shee
II
Do you see yon shepherds,
As they walk along
With their plaidies pulled about them
And their sheep they graze on
III
Do you see yon sodjers
As they all march along
With their muskets on their shouders
And their broadswords hinging down
IV
Do you see yon high hills
All covered with snow
They have parted many’s a true love
And they’ll soon pairt us two

NOTES
1) or bonny highland

The Bloody Fields of Flanders

The pipe march version comes from the World War I arranged by John MacLellan (Pipe Major of the 8th Argylls), Hamish Henderson had the chance to hear it during the Second World War at Anzio and in 1960 he added a text entitled “The Freedom Come-All-Ye” by tranforming it into an anti-war song.

A Trip

https://outnaboutinscotland.com/2014/11/24/glen-isla-monamenach/

LINK
http://sangstories.webs.com/bonnyglenshee.htm
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/81881/16
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/10596/1
http://tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/65221/1
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/871.html
https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4991
http://www.schoolofpiping.com/articles/flanders.pdf

Bonnie Glenshee

Read the post in English

“Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie” (anche “Bonnie Glenshee”) è una canzone tradizionale scozzese diffusa tra gli Scots Travellers, su di una vecchia melodia del Perthsire, una canzone di cui non si sa praticamente nulla. S’inserisce nel filone delle fanciulle che vorrebbero seguire il loro amore arruolato come soldato (o marinaio) travestendosi da uomo per restargli accanto, ma sono dissuase a restare a casa. Nelle note di copertina de Travellers Songs from England and Scotland, 1977 MacColl and Seeger scrivono: “
Questo pezzo non appare in nessuna delle principali collezioni scozzesi. È una specie di immagine speculare di “O No, No”, una canzone del genere “Lisbona / banche del Nilo”, in cui una ragazza supplica il suo amore per accompagnarlo in guerra, ma la sua richiesta viene respinta con il pretesto che la sua bellezza svanirebbe e il suo incarnato patirebbe se esposto al gelo e alla pioggia degli altipiani” (dalla testimoniana di Charlotte Higgins vedi)

Qui il ragazzo invita la fidanzata a ad un’ultima romantica passeggiata (probabilmente un incontro amoroso con scambio di voti ) per la Glen Isla prima di partire in guerra.

Shona Anderson & Terry Dey

The Corries — Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie

Traduzione italiana Cattia Salto
I
Vedi le alte colline
ricoperte di neve
Hanno separato più di un vero amore
e presto ci divideranno
Coro
Preparati, preparati bella fanciulla
e vieni con me
e ti porterò a Glen Isla
vicino alle bella Glen Shee.
II
Vedi quei pastori
che camminano
con i loro mantelli stretti addosso
e le loro pecore che pascolano
III
Vedi quei soldati
mentre camminano tutti insieme
con i moschetti sulle spalle
e i loro spadoni che penzolano al fianco
IV
Vedi le alte colline
ricoperte di neve
Hanno separato più di un vero amore
e presto ci divideranno

NOTE
1) oppure bonny highland

LA MELODIA:The Bloody Fields of Flanders

La versione pipe march viene dalla I Guerra Mondiale arrangiata da John MacLellan (Pipe Major dell’8° Argylls), Hamish Henderson ebbe l’occasione di sentirla durante la II Guerra Mondiale ad Anzio e nel 1960 ci aggiunge un testo dal titolo ‘The Freedom Come-All-Ye’ trasformandola in una anti-war song.

L’escursione
https://outnaboutinscotland.com/2014/11/24/glen-isla-monamenach/

FONTI
http://sangstories.webs.com/bonnyglenshee.htm
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/81881/16
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/10596/1
http://tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/65221/1
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/871.html
https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4991
http://www.schoolofpiping.com/articles/flanders.pdf

Febbraio: 2019
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