all of this was originally posted by philippa robinson, but i couldn't find it in a search. maybe someone can nuke this thread when the other one rears its head. at the risk of redundancy, here goes:

Cúl Tiugh (Tiubh) na Bpéarlaí

Is truagh nach bhfuil mé agus cúl tiugh na bpéarlaí
'G ionnsuidhe bhinn' Eadair maidin bhog bhreagh,
'S gan aon fhear i n éirinn a chluinfeadh mo sgéal-sa
Nár thruagh leis mac Gaedhil bheith i bpéin-bhruid mar táim

Ní iarrfainn aon spré léithe, earradh nó éadach,
Caiple nó caoirigh, cé gur doiligh damh a rádh,
Acht feicsint a sgéimhe, a húrla, 'sa héadáin,
Is a cúl casta craobhach dá dtug mé dí grádh.

Tá a cúl casta soillseach, torránach, trillseach,
Trom trom triopallach, síos go bróig,
Is a cuirpín borraicheach, cúmhra, cuimseach -
Sí'n chuach 'sa choill í lá breagh ceodhach.

Tá a ciabh-fholt camógach, cluainteach, clannógach,
Lúbach, feamainneach, cocanach, donn,
Dualach, dlaoidheógach, cuachach, claonach,
Sguabach, slaodach, fada, roighin, trom.

Tá dhá dhlaoi óir-fhulteach 'fás go droithleanta
Soillseach solusda i n-imeall a cinn,
Ag an pháisde mharanta, mhúinte, mhacanta,
Mhuscailte, mharglaidh, bháin-gheal, ghrinn.

Mur bhfuighim go cinnte áil mo intinn',
Sásamh cainnte leis an mhaghdin mhín,
Mo bhás go brónach i lár m'óige -
No 'sí an cnó í a d'apuigh 'n ghrian.

Mo siubhal ins a' ló ní léir damh 'n ród,
Ó d'isligh 'n cheo is mhéadaigh an ghaoth,
Thart fá chomhnuighidh sí, sgéimh na hóige,
A d'fhág faoi bhrón mé leath mo shaoghail.

Och dá bhfuighinn acht póg ó n-a caoin-bhéal rós -
Sí Deirdre mhodhmhar í is áilne gnaoi -
Táim briste breoidhte craidhte leonta,
D'easbhaidh treora táim dá díth.

philippa: Daithí Sproule has recorded this love song which waxes eloquent about the maiden's beauty (is it true that her tresses touch her toes - verse 3? Ó Muirgheasa comments on the many adjectives used to describe the woman's hair!) This transcription is from Éinrí ÓMuirgheasa "Dhá Chéad de Cheoltaibh Uladh". Quite some time ago, I mentioned this song in a thread about a different song and I said I might type out the lyrics sometime. Well I finally have done so. I have retained Ó Muirgheasa's spelling in case I would be inconsistent if I updated it. Some examples of the modern standardised spellings are: sgéal = scéal (all the words starting with 'sg' now begin with 'sc'), damh = dom (but pronounced damh in Donegal), truagh = trua, breagh = breá, Gaedhil = Gaeil, breoidhte craidhte = breoite craite.

In his notes, Ó Muirgheasa wrote that he found about a dozen versions of this song, especially in south Donegal. Some of the people who knew the song said it was composed by Tadhg Ó Tiománaidhe; others said they didn't know who the author was. Ó Muirgheasa says the poetic style is more reminiscent of the province of Munster than of Ulster, although he's quite sure that this song belongs to Donegal. The several versions varied substantially from each other and the compiler had a hard task deriving the synthesis given above. Ó Muirgheasa waxes lyrical himself in his estimation of the poetry, saying the words skip as lightly as a lassie dancing.