Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)

Subject: Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)
From: Felipa
Date: 29 Oct 21 - 12:15 PM

http://beatoninstitutemusic.ca/wp-content/uploads/lyrics-creach-na-samhna.pdf

You can listen to Angus MacLellan introducing and singing the song "Creach na Samhna" on the sound-file at http://beatoninstitutemusic.ca/gaelic/creach-na-samhna/

"This humorous song was composed by Angus Campbell who came to Cape Breton from the island of Benbecula in 1833, when he was 18 years of age. He composed the song in the early 1870s, after a group of youngsters had raided a cabbage patch near Salmon River at Halloween. Iagan, the victim of the raid, vowed he would get his revenge. The bard made it look as if the old men of the community had been the culprits and even mentions the parish priest, Father Archie Chisholm, as one of the raiders."

I suppose the pumpkins or the turnips, whichever they used for Jack o' Lanterns in Cape Breton in those days, had already been harvested before Hallowe'en night.

CREACH NA SAMHNA -- Angus Campbell

Oidhche Shamhna rinn iad sprùilleadh,
Gàrraidhean càil air an spùilleadh;
Nam biodh agam beagan ùine
Rachadh na bh'ann a chunntadh:
Lachainn Bàn is Iain mac Ùisdein,
'S Alasdair mac Nìll mhic Dhùghaill.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann,
Hò rò gheallaidh, na cò chuireadh i,
Trom oirre seinn.

B'e sud an càl a fhuair a riasladh
A bha fàs an gàrradh Iagain.
Cha robh gillean òga riamh ann
Ach bodaich 's an cinn air liathadh.
Chaidh chuid mhòr dhan Rudh' an Iar dheth;
Thug MacIlleBhràth mu chiad leis.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann,
Hò rò gheallaidh, na cò chuireadh i,
Trom oirre seinn.

Cha chualas a leithid de stàplaich
Bhon gheamhradh a phòs MacPhàidein;
Cha robh duine beò 's an àite
Nach do thruis a ghoid a' chàil iad.
Thàinig Mòr 's Aonghas MacÀidh
'S Uilleam Dòmhnallach gu làidir.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Tha na daoin' air fàs cho dàna,
Thàinig iad bho thaobh an t-sàile;
Bha Eòghainn MacIlleBhràth ann,
Alasdair Eòghainn 's a bhràthair;
Bha fear eil' ann 's fiasag bhàn air
Coltach ri Eòghainn an Tàilleir.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Thuirt Iain mac Ùisdein ri Alasdair:
"Bhon tha oidhche bhriagha ghealaich ann
Bheir mi-fhèin 's tu-fhèin leinn eallaich às,
'S tiotaidh sinn a-null am "barren' leis;
Ach faigh an dùdach 's cuir am falach i
Air eagal gun dùisg iad Penny leatha.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Mas a th'ann fìor tha m'amharas
Gu robh feadhainn ann à Mira;
Bha Ruairidh Eòin air an ceann ann,
'S e 'g iarraidh càl gu feòil a' gheamhraidh;
Calum MacCarmaig 's e cho sanntach,
'S thug e còrr is leth-chiad plannt leis.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Nuair chaidh Iagan chur na fhaireachadh
Fiach an dèanadh e 'n aithneachadh,
Chunnaic e le soills' na gealaiche
Boillsgeadh de Sheumas mac Ailein ann.
Shìn e air cho luath ri dealanach,
'S chuir e ruaig gu Allt na Maiseadh air.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Chualas staraban 's a' ghàradh;
Cò bha sud ach Maighstir Eàirdsidh,
Lachainn Iain air a shàiltean,
A-measg nan sagart mar a b'àbhaist;
Leum e deich troighean a dh'àirde,
'S thug e leis na cliathan slàn às.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Nuair thruis iad ann às gach àite
Cha toilleadh trian dhiubh 's a' ghàrradh;
Sgianan ac' cho giar ri ràsoran,
'S iad fiachainn cò bu mhutha thàrradh.
Aonghas Mòr mac Ailein Ghràinnseir,
Spìonadh e na craobhan slàn leis.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Bha MacÌosaig an taobh eile dheth,
Bha esan na roinn 's gun deireas air,
Fad na h-oidhche 's i ro ghoirid leis,
'S e cho luath, 's e 'n luathmharc bheireadh air.
Dòmhnall Bàn a bha 's an eilean,
Gun sguab e leis na dhà mu dheireadh dhiubh.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Beagan ro èirigh na grèine
Chunnacas dithis às an lèintean
'N an ruith as dèidh a chèile,
'S iad feuch an tàrradh iad fhèin dad.
An tàillear à Beinn na Fadhla,
'S Ùisdean mac Aonghais mhic Raghnaill.
'S i 'n Dubh Ghleannach a bh'ann, etc.

Translation:

The Halloween Raid

On Halloween night they plundered,
Cabbage gardens were robbed;
If I had a little time
Those there would be counted:
Fair-haired Lachlan and John, son of Hugh,
And Alasdair, son of Neil, son of Dougall.
It was the Dubh Ghleannach that was there, etc.

The cabbage that was taken
Was the cabbage in Iagan's garden.
Young lads were not there,
But old grey-haired men.
Much of it went to the West Point;
MacGillivray took about a hundred.

Such a stampede was not heard
Since the winter of MacFadyen's wedding;
There wasn't a living person in the place
Who didn't gather to steal the cabbage.
Marion and Angus MacKay were there,
And William MacDonald in his vigour.

The people had become so daring
That they came from the sea-coast.
Ewen MacGillivray was there,
And Alasdair son of Ewen and his brother.
There was another fellow with a white beard,
Like Ewen the Tailor.

   http://beaton.cbu.ca/diversity      
John, son of Hugh, said to Alasdair:
"Since it's a beautiful moon-lit night
You and I will take a load with us
And we will rush across the barrens with it.
But take the horn and hide it
In case we waken Penny with it."

If my suspicion is true
There were people from Mira there;
Roderick John was in charge,
Looking for cabbage to supplement his winter meat.
Malcolm MacCormick was so greedy
He took more than fifty plants with him.

When Iagan was put on the alert
To identify them,
He saw in the moonlight
A glimpse of James son of Allan;
He took off after him like lightning
And chased him as far as Allt na Maiseadh.

A rustling noise was heard in the garden;
Who was there but Father Archie,
With Lachie John at his heels,
Among the priests as usual.
He jumped ten feet high
And tore the panel-fence apart.

When they assembled there from all over
Not even a third of them could find room in the garden.
They had knives as sharp as razors,
Each trying to grab the most cabbages.
Big Angus, son of Allan the Farmer,
Was uprooting whole trees.

MacIsaac was on the other side of him,
Dividing the spoil relentlessly;
The whole night was too short for him;
He was so fast that only a swift steed could catch him.
Fair-haired Donald from the island
Grabbed the last two remaining ones.

Shortly before sunrise
Two men in shirt-sleeves were seen
Running after each other;
Trying to get something for themselves.

The air is based on "An Dubh-Ghleannach"
http://beatoninstitutemusic.ca/wp-content/uploads/sheet-music-creach-na-samhna.pdf

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)
From: Felipa
Date: 29 Oct 21 - 12:41 PM

the line Creach na Samhna also appears in a verse of An Duanag Ullamh the Matheson Collection; I have only skimmed it so far
https://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/archive/76426180

see also pages 237-241 of Wilson McLeod's essay in "Fresche fontanis: Studies in the Culture of Medieval and Early Modern Scotland"
edited by J. Derrick McClure, Janet Hadley Williams (browsed via Google books)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)
From: GUEST,Brien Hoye
Date: 29 Oct 21 - 12:46 PM

I believe the ritual of raiding cabbage patches on Halloween with the risk or raising the farmer's ire were parts of the ususal festivities.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)
From: GUEST,Brien Hoye
Date: 29 Oct 21 - 01:35 PM

I apologize. I was interrupted in the middle of a post. The practice of raiding gardens on Halloween seemed to be popular in Ireland as well. I think these sorts of pranks were the origins of trick-or-treating. One I have been learning more about this year is stealing someone's gate. My father-in-law said the practice was also quite common in the urban waterfront neighborhood he grew up in, before WWII. There was plenty of immigration at that time. In Ireland the gates would be left at the church where neighbors could retrieve them easily. I demonstrates, I thing a little community complicity in maintaining pre-Christian rituals. So the collective memory seems to replant itself itself in a new location with some echoes of the other side of the pond.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)
From: Felipa
Date: 31 Oct 21 - 08:07 AM

thanks, Brian

I see that "Mischief Night" is also known as "Cabbage Night"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischief_Night
Scottish Gaelic - Oidhche nan Cleas - night of the tricks

The following is quoted from Heather Whipps' article in https://www.livescience.com/5149-devil-night-history-pre-halloween-pranks.html:

The most ancient roots of Halloween come from the Celts of Great Britain, who believed that the day before their Nov. 1 New Year was a time when spirits came back to haunt and play tricks. On Oct. 31, people dressed up in scary costumes, played games, lit bonfires and left food out on their doorsteps for the ghosts in celebration of this otherworldly event, which the Celts called Samhain.

When Great Britain was Christianized in the 800s, the ghoulish games of Samhain merged with All Saints Day and All Souls Day, during which the dead were honored with parades and door-to-door solicitation by peasants for treats — usually a bit of food or money.

After the Protestant Reformation, much of England stopped the "treating" side of Halloween because it was connected to Catholic saints, and transferred the trickery to the eve of Guy Fawkes Night, a Nov. 5 holiday celebrating the foiling of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up British Parliament. Mischief Night in England is still celebrated on Nov. 4.

The Irish, Scottish and northern English, meanwhile, kept up much of their Halloween traditions, including the good-natured misbehavior, and brought their ways to North America with the wave of immigration in the 1800s.

Before the 20th century, Halloween mischief in the United States and Canada happened on Oct. 31 and consisted of tipping over outhouses, unhinging farmer's gates, throwing eggs at houses and the like. By the 1920s and 30s, however, the celebrations had become more like a rowdy block party, and the acts of vandalism more serious, probably instigated by tensions over the Great Depression and the threat of war, historians say.

To stem the vandalism, concerned parents and town leaders tried to ply kids with candy, encouraging the forgotten tradition of trick-or-treating in costume in exchange for sweets, bumping the mischief element from the celebrations of Oct. 31 altogether. It was then that the troublemakers, neighborhood by neighborhood, adopted Oct. 30 as their day to pull pranks. Rotten vegetables

The custom of vandalism on Oct. 30, oddly, seems to have only developed sporadically, often appearing in some areas but not at all in others nearby.

Nowadays, Mischief Night is especially popular in pockets where Irish and Scottish immigration was common — in northeastern United States but not in the South and West, for example, and in the English-speaking communities of Canada but not the French. Examples of the regional varieties include:

    Cabbage Night in parts of the northeastern United States, where rotten vegetables are collected and left on porch stoops or smeared on doors and windows.
    Mat Night in English-speaking Quebec, where pranksters steal doormats and switch them with the neighbors'.
    Gate Night, in the Midwest, where farmers gates are opened, leaving livestock to roam free.

Other popular pranks include the ubiquitous toilet-papering of homes and trees, "soaping" cars and windows and pumpkin smashing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Creach na Samhna (the Hallowe'en Raid)
From: GUEST,Brien Hoye
Date: 01 Nov 21 - 07:50 AM

From and RTE documentary, it seems the choice of pranking people's gates may be connected to the "opening of doors" to the underworld that seemed to occur on the corner day between the winter solstice and the autumnal equinox.