Lyrics
In the Sunny Long Ago
12.
Oran Chaluim Sgaire
This song is from the Isle of Lewis where I
spent most of my teenage years. The words were composed mid-1800s
by a fisherman, Malcolm MacAulay, ('Calum Sgaire' - Malcolm, son
of Zachariah). He was in love with a girl whose parents wanted her
to marry the merchant, an older, wealthier man. The young couple
planned to elope the night before her arranged wedding but a mist
came down and they didn't meet. Next day, distraught, she married
the merchant and Calum sailed for Quebec. He never returned to Lewis,
and tragically his sweetheart died of a broken heart within a year.
The song doesn't really tell this story which I heard in Quebec
from a distant relative of the girl's. Kitty MacLeod, the legendary
Gaelic singer from Lewis, composed the tune in the 1930s.
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Och a righ, gur trom m' osna
'S fhad' bhom luaidh a-nochd mi;
Mise tuath air ceann Lochlainn
'S is' aig Loch an Fhir Mhaoil.
Ged is math a bhith seòladh,
'S olc a tha e gam chòrdadh
'S mòr gum b' fheàrr a bhith 'm Bosta
Cur an eòrn' anns an raon.
Air fal ill ò rà u
Fà ill èileadh ò rà u
Air fal ill ò rà u
Hogaidh ò hò rò hì.
Dh' fhalbh i, ghluais i leinn dhachaigh,
Chuir i chuairt ud air Arcaibh
Cruinn ùra 's siùil gheala,
Tide mhara 's i leinn.
Nuair a dhirich i 'm bruach
Shad i bhuarach 's an cuman
'S thuirt i "Suaimhneach an diugh mi,
Seo e, cuspair mo rùin." |
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Translation
Oh God, my sigh is heavy/And I far from my love tonight, /I to
the north of Norway/And she at Loch an Fhir Maoil [Bald Man's Lake]
Although it's good to be sailing/ It's not to my liking,/ Much
better to be in Bosta/ Planting barley in the field.
She [the boat] sailed homewards with us/ Went around Orkney/New
masts and white sails,/ The tide in our favour.
When she [the sweetheart] reached the hilltop/ She threw down the
milking pail and fetter/And said "Happy am I today/ He is here,
the one I love."
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