TÁILLIÚIR A' MHAGAIDH

Is thíos ag an tobar 'sea chuir mise an fáinne amú,
'Sea dhearc mé an ainnir ba deise 's ba bhreáchta snua;
'S bhí a gnua trí lasadh 's a leaca mar bláth na n-úil;
'S má dhearc sí mise níor lig sí mo shláinte liom.

Is dhá mbeadh fhios a'm fhéin aréir go rabh tú le theacht,
Ó d'osclóinn an doras is ligfinn thú fhéin isteach;
Is chóireoinn do leaba 'gus luífinn in éineacht leat,
'gus bhainfinn póg mhilis taobh amuigh dhe do bhéilín deas.

Is a tháilliúir a' mhagaidh ní phósfaidh mé thú mar fhear,
Ach posfaidh mé an talmhaí a dhéanfas go domhain mo theach,
'S a d'éirios ar maidin 's a chraithfeas an síol i gceart,
'S nach suífeadh cois forais ag feadaíl ná a' ruaigeadh cearc.

Is, 's a tháilliúirín suarach, cé phósadh thú fhéin mar fhear?
'S do chuid loirgní dóite 's tú ag imeacht ó theach go teach,
'S a' cur síos ar do chomharsa 's an té ud nach dtaitneodh leat,
'S Mac Dua is Mac Dara ('s) go ngreamaí do thóin don hob

Is an áit a mbíonn fascadh bíonn fódán ann is féar,
'S bíonn ceol binn ag na meachain a' baint meala dho bharr na gcraobh;
'S bíonn an bradán ag preabadh 's an breac geal ag snámh go réidh,
Is mo stóirín faoi leatrom af fear eile le fáinne an lae.

Translation: THE MOCKING TAILOR

And down by the well is where I mislaid the ring,
And I saw the nicest girl of the finest complexion;
Her face was on fire and her cheeks like apple-blossom,
And if she looked at me she didn't leave me my health.

And if I myself had known last night that you were to come,
Oh, I would have opened the door and let yourself in;
And I would have set out your bed and lain along with you,
And I would have taken a kiss from outside your nice little mouth.

Oh, and you mocking tailor, I will not wed you as my husband,
But I will marry the landed man who will build my house deep,
Who will rise in the morning and shake the seed right,
And who will not sit by the door wwhistling or chasing hens.

And, you miserable tailor, who will wed yourself as a husband?-
With your shins burnt and you going from house to house, Giving an account of your neighbour and the one you don't like,
And may Mac Dua and Mac Dara stick your backside to the hob.

And in the place where there is shelter there is a little sod and grass,
And there is sweet music from the bees gathering honey from the tops of the branches;
The salmon leaps and the sea-trout swims smoothly,
And my little treasure is distressed, with another man at the dawning of the day.

From Sarah Ghriallais, IDIR DHÁ SHÁILE – amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós; edited by Brian Ó Ruairc, published along with a cassette tape by Camus Productions, Regional Technical College, Galway, 1987. It may be available from Cló Iar-Chonachta? The translation and the following notes are by Brian Ó Ruairc, who you may be familiar with as the author of the Bodhrán song (kid wants to become drum!) and compiler of Blás Meala, a sip from the Honey Pot.
Br>

"The tailor has a bad reputation in Irish folklore, and 'Tailliúir a' Mhagaidh' is one of a number of songs which express distrust of him. There are several versions of the song, and this one is certainly not the most coherent. The only two verses which are consistent with each other are the third and fourth, in which a woman rejects the tailor's proposal of marriage. The second embodies a far more welcoming attitude, and it is difficult to se how it could originally have belonged to the same song. As for the first and last verses, in which the persona is a man, there is no obvious link with the rest; they do not, for example, make the whole add up to a realistic dialogue. It is not certain either, that there is any connection between the two verses themselves. Each of them contains typical nature-imagery as well as a brief evocation of some human drama, and, as they stand, outside any meaningful context, they are examples of those tantalising fragments which are so abundant in the whole corpus of Gaelic folksong."

Sarah learned this song from Seán Mac Donncha of An Ceathrú Rua, Co. Galway. Other versions/verses of Táilliúir an Mhagaidh will be welcome at this thread.

line breaks fixed by mudelf ;-)