Lyr Add: O Thoir A Nall Am Botul

Subject: Lyr Add: O Thoir A Nall Am Botul
From: RunrigFan
Date: 25 Sep 20 - 07:56 PM

Cliar - from Gun Tàmh album

O thoir a-nall am Botul
Nuair a thogadh e oirnn sogan
'S e 'm Botul bu docha leinn

B' e siud Earrach dubh a' chala
Dh' fhàg e iomach aon gun smalan
Thug e uamsa mo chrodh bainne
Sin e gearrain bha mi 'caoidh

'S gur beag m' ùidh dhol chun na h-àiridh
Shealltainn air mo chuid chruidh àluinn
'S gun agam dhiu ach na cnàmhan
'S iad gun shliochd, gun àl, gun laoigh

'S fear as lugha gheibh de 'n t-saoghal
Bidh e 'strì ri tuilleadh fhaotainn
Gheibh sinn uile biadh is aodach
'S cha toir daoran maoin don chill

'S lìon am Botul, lìon a dhà dhiu
Na biodh cùram ort mu 'm pàigheadh
Mur a faigh thu na do làmh e
Nì seic' na bà dar an t-suim


Daimh https://www.daimh.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/O-FAIR-A-NALL-AM-BOTUL.pdf

Sineag MacIntyre

Ò, Thoir a-nall am Botal
Hè cùm thall am bodach,                              
Nuair a thogadh e oirnn sogan                     
'S e 'm botal bu dòcha leinn.                        
   
B' e siud Earrach dubh a' challa                  
Dh' fhàg e iomadh aon an smalan,               
Thug e uamsa mo chrodh bainne                  
'S iad na gearrain bha mi caoidh.                  
   
'S gur beag m' ùidh dhol chun na h-àiridh      
Shealltainn air mo chuid chruidh àlainn,         
'S gun agam dhiubh ach na cnàmhan            
'S iad gun shliochd, gun àl, gun laoigh.      
   
'S fear as lugha gheibh den t-saoghal         
Bidh e strì ri tuilleadh fhaotainn,               
Gheibh sinn uile biadh is aodach               
'S cha toir daoran maoin don chìll.            
   
'S lìon am botal, lìon a dhà dhiubh            
Na biodh cùram ort mun phàigheadh,         
Mur am faigh thu na do làmh e                  
Nì seic' na bà-dàir an t-suim.   

No translation

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: O Thoir A-nall Am Botul
From: Felipa
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 05:35 PM

Celtic Lyrics Corner gives the following translation (may be from the Cliar album notes, anyway it looks right to me)
English Translation:
        
        Chorus (after each verse):
Oh pass over the Bottle [O thoir a-nall am botul]
Hey, keep the "old boy" over there
When he makes us tipsy
It's the Bottle we prefer
verses         
That was the black Spring of darkness
It lifted the gloom from everyone
It took from me my milking cows
I lamented the cattle
        
I had little interest in going to the shieling
To see to my beautiful cattle
Only their bones were left
They were without offspring, young[sters], or calves
        
The man who has least worldly possessions
Will fight to get more
We will all get food and clothes
And a miser cannot take his riches to the grave
        
Fill the Bottle, fill two of them
Don't worry about paying for them
If you don't have it in your hand
The cow's hide will pay for one of them

http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/cliar/othoir.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: O Thoir A-nall Am Botul
From: Felipa
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 05:46 PM

In the first message the second line of the chorus is missing in the transcription from Cliar

O thoir a-nall am Botul         
Hè, cùm thall am bodach         
Nuair a thogadh e oirnn sogan         
'S e 'm Botul bu docha leinn

You can listen to Sineag MacIntyre's recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCMh9iIWXc

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: O Thoir A Nall Am Botul
From: GUEST,rory
Date: 27 Sep 20 - 07:16 PM

Daimh from the album Hebridean Sessions

Seist:
O fair a-nall am botul
E cùm thall am bodach
Nuair a chuireadh e oirnn sogan
’S e ‘m botul bu docha leinn

Lion a h-aon dhiubh lion a dhà dhiubh
Na biodh cùram ort mun phaigheadh
Mar a tachair e san laimh rinn
Ni seiche na bò dàir an t-suim

(seist)

Bitheamaid cridheil bitheamaid ceòlmhor
Gabhair gach nì mar is còir dhuinn
As a bheagan cinnidh mòran
Tuilleadh ’s na dh’fhònas a chaoidh

(seist)

Fear is motha cuid den t-saoghal
Bidh e strì ri tuilleadh fhaotainn
’S ma gheibh sinne is aodach
Cha toir esan maoin don chìll

(seist)

Carson a bhiodh oirnne gruaimean
Ged a mhuin an t-Earrach cruaidh rinn
Gheibh sinn creideas feadh na tuatha
A nì suas na thug e dhuinn

(seist)

’S beag mo shunnda ris an àiridh
Far an do dh’fhàg mi mo chrodh àlainn
’S gun bhith ann dhiubh ach na cnàmhan
’S iad gun bhliochd, gun dàir, gun laogh

(seist)

Bhean an taighe, ghaoil an fhortan
Aiseig dhuinn a-nall am botal
Olaidh sinn gu sunndach deoch dhe
Chum na bochdainn chur air chùll

(seist) x2


Chorus:
Oh pass over the Bottle
Hey, keep the "old boy" over there
When he makes us tipsy
It's the Bottle we prefer

(Chorus)

Fill the Bottle, fill two of them
Don't worry about paying for them
If you don't have it in your hand
The cow's hide will pay for one of them

(Chorus)

[literal translation]
[Let's be happy let's be musical
Take everything as we should
Of the few races of many
More than ever]

(Chorus)

The man who has least worldly possessions
Will fight to get more
We will all get food and clothes
And a miser cannot take his riches to the grave

(Chorus)

Why should we be sad?
Although Spring has been hard on us
We are rewarded throughout the land
Which makes up for what has been taken from us

(Chorus)

I had little interest in going to the shieling
To see my beautiful cattle
Only their bones are left
They are without produce, without young, or calves

(Chorus)

Dear wife, joyous love
Bring over the bottle
We will merrily drink from it
And keep our sorrows away

(Chorus) x2

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: O Thoir A Nall Am Botul
From: GUEST,Rory
Date: 27 Sep 20 - 07:24 PM

Song by Iain MacMhurchaidh (John MacRae) (born mid 18th c - died 1776) in 1770
Kintail Bard

The song ‘O Thoir A-nall Am Botal’ is ascribed to Iain MacMhurchaidh, in 1770, the year of the "sneachda buidhe" (yellow snow), when the snow lay so long on the ground that it turned yellow. People lost their cattle and everything else, and the bottle was their only comfort.

Iain mac Mhurchaidh, was born in Lianag a’ Chùl Doire in Kintail in the mid 18th century. As the son of Murdo, son of Farquhar, 4th son of Alasdair MacRae of Inverinate, he belonged to the MacRae nobility and was employed by the Earl of Seaforth as his ground officer, deer stalker and forester in Kintail and Lochalsh.  After the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-6 and the crushing defeat at Culloden and its bloody aftermath, the relationship between Clan chiefs and their people began to change, leading to increased rents for tacksmen such as Iain mac Mhurchaidh. In the spring of 1770, Bliadhna an t-Sneachda Bhuidhe,(the Year of the Yellow Snow) he lost many cattle in a severe blizzard. Perhaps unable to see a secure future for himself and his family in Kintail, he emigrated to North Carolina around 1774. When the American War of Independence began in 1775 he and his son Murdo joined the loyalist army, fighting with the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment. He fought at the battle of Moore’s Creek on the 27th of February, 1776. The loyalists lost and as he relates in the song, Tha mi sgith ’n fhògar seo, he became an outlaw who was eventually captured and imprisoned. It was said that, because his songs were so influential among the Carolina Gaels, he was dealt with in a particularly harsh way. According to tradition he suffered an excruciating death at the hands of the rebels.

According to tradition his Carolina songs were brought back to Scotland by another John MacRae, Iain mac a’ Ghobha of Bundaloch, Dornie. Some of Iain mac Mhurchaidh’s songs were published in the Celtic Magazine in 1882.