DUTHAICH MHIC LEOID
(Traditional)

Tha mi'n dùil, Tha mi'n dùil
Tha mi'n dùil a' bhith tilleadh
Dh'ionnsaigh dùthaich MhicLeòid
Far an òg rinn mi mire.

Fhuair sinn litrichean bho'n Rìgh
Gus sinn fhéin 'dhèanamh ullamh
Los a dhol a null do'n Fhraing
'S a chur bhraing 'san feah-mhillidh.

[The following verse is not in any version I have heard, but the words folloow quite logically from the previous verse and are refected in the usual English version of the song]
Fhuair mi claidheadh sgaiteach cruaidh
Crios 'ga chumail suas mu m'mhiadhain
Deise dhearg a chlò nan Gall
Cha robh meang anns a' ghille

Nuair a chuir iad sinn air bòrd
Anns an òrdugh bu ghrinne
Bha gach fear is tè ag ràdh
Cha dèan pàirt aca tilleadh.

Nuair a chuir iad sinn air tìr
A measg sìbein is murain
Thug sinn baiteal air an tràigh
'S cha d'rinn pàirt againn fuireach.

Ghabh na Frangaich an ruaig
Nuair a chual' iad an druma
Thug iad a-mach ris a' ghleann
'S cha do sheall iad ruinn tuilleadh.

Thàinig esan, mac mo Rìgh
'S e mar aon dhìnn 'sa chuideachd
"Mo cheist Ghàidheil an Taobh Tuath?
Bha sibh bhuam 's fhuair mi nis sibh."

Fhìr a dh'imicheas do'n Iar,
Ged bhiodh bliadhna mu'n ruig thu,
Thoir an t-soraidh so do m'ghradh:
"Ma is slàn mi gu'n tig mi!".

The version I have of this (which I first heard in about 1960) is slightly different from the one Philippa posted 10 years ago - one of Philippa's verses is not present in the version I know, and her version omits two of the verses that I have. There are a number of small differences, of two different sorts: one sort is dialect differences - for example "Tha mi'n dùil ri" vs "Tha mi'n dùil a'" - amongst these differences are some rather Irish-looking things in Philippa's version (mire for mireadh, batal for baiteal,...) The other sort is minor changes of the sort that happen when a song is passed on by word of mouth - "bha gach fear ri thè ag ràdh cha dèan pairt againn tilleadh" / "bha gach fear is tè ag ràdh cha dèan pairt aca tilleadh". There is one very modern phrase in Philippa's version: a measg sioban is muran; this is something modern youths might say, but their grandparents would probably say it was ungrammatical, and I'm sure no-one would have said it two centuries ago and equally sure I would have remembered it if those had been the words in the Duanaire instead of a measg sibein is murain.

CMT