The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #6412 Message #974401
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
29-Jun-03 - 09:06 PM
Thread Name: Tune Req: Mairi Bhan Og
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Mairi Bhan Og
Here is the full text of Lachlan MacBean's translation of Duncan Ban MacIntyre's Gaelic, exactly as it appeared in Moffat's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Highlands. Lesley missed the first verse. Whether Jim's suggestions are an improvement I wouldn't know, but as a rule I'd be reluctant to second-guess the translator without a good understanding of the original language.
FAIR YOUNG MARY
Oh, rapture to be, my fair young Mary,
With thee, my beautiful bride:
In love true and strong that ne'er shall vary,
A bond the clergy have tied;
This covenant sure, approved by heaven,
Secure shall ever abide,
And, since with goodwill thy hand is given,
I thrill with pleasure and pride.
My love to my bride, with dear caresses,
And pride, shall ever be shown;
Each virtue most rare her soul possesses,
And fair and sweet has she grown.
My thoughts used to rove in boyish folly,
Ere ever her love I had known,
But, now I'm her own, my heart is wholly
My darling's alone - alone.
Where woodlands are green with trees well nourished,
A scene of beauty to view,
I found, with delight, one stem that flourished,
With blossoms of every hue:
That bough from above, desiring greatly,
With love unto me I drew;
None else could have moved that tree so stately,
'Twas only for me that it grew.
Gaelic to follow when I have time.