Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish

Subject: Lyr Add: THUG MÉ RÚIDE
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 26 Jan 04 - 08:23 AM

another song in answer to an Púca's request for Irish songs about priests, Thug Mé Rúide - collected in Tory Island - is related to another song, An Caiseadach Bán, the song of a priest in love with a woman

Thug Mé Rúide as sung by Máiread Ní Mhaonaigh with Altan

THUG MÉ RÚIDE

Thug mé rúide go mullaigh na Cruaiche
'S a darna rúide 'un tSléibhe Ruaidh
'G iarraidh tuarisc mo chailín d'fhág m'intinn buartha
'S ná í rinne gual dubh do mo chroí 'na lár

Nach mall's nach luath, mar a chuir sí in iúl domh
Nach bhfásfadh 'n féar fríd a' talamh aníos
Na' dtabharfadh an ghealach dhears solas d'Éireann
'S na soilseachadh 'n réalta le coim na h-oích'

Níl a' chailín óg deas ná thrialladh a' ród liom
'S nár dheas m'áit lóistin ar theacht na h-oích'
Bheinn a teannadh le mo chroí's a fáscadh
'S idir mo dhá láimh níor fhada an oích'

'S dá mbeinn mo bhádóir nar dheas mar shnámhfainn
A ceann 's ar carn da mbíonn grá mo chroí
Bhéinn a rá leis na tonnaí gorma
In airde leis na bruaigh bhuí

'S tá mé ar a bhaile seo le bliain 's trí ráithe
'S níor bháist mé 'n pháiste, gan cead ón chléir
Phósfainn a' lanuin dá mbeadh siad sásta
Ar ghreim dhá lámh is le ceangal cruaidh

Bhí fliúit is orgán ann a seinm ceoil ann
'S bhi mo chailín óg dheas ag siúil a' tí
Chan iarrfainn ar shaibhreas ar uair mo bháis-e
Aon phóg amháin 's a fháil ó stór mo chroí

A fairly similar version from Tory Island is published in Nollaig Ó hUrmoltaigh, "Ceolta Uladh 4". Belfast: Queens University (Ollscoil na Ríona), 1975

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: David Ingerson
Date: 26 Jan 04 - 08:40 PM

Agus go raimh mile maith agat, aris.

David

Subject: Tune Add: THUG MÉ RÚIDE
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 11:14 AM

X:1
T:Thug Me Ruide
N: from N Ó hUrmoltaigh, Ceolta Uladh 4 (Belfast, 1975)
N:provided by Philippa
I:abc2nwc
M:6/4
L:1/8
K:F
z4z4{e(}f d) (e f)|g4d2c2B B A2|G3E F2zG f2e2|
w:Thug mé_ rúi_-de go mu-llaigh na Cru-ai-che 'S~a dar-na
d4B2c2e3d|c4-c2z2{e(}f d) (e f)|
w:rúi-de 'un tSléi-bhe Ruaidh
g4d2c2B B A2|(G3E) F2zG f2 (3(edc)|
w:'G iar-raidh tua_-risc_ mo chai-lín a threig me 'S nách b'í rinne
d4c2A2G3G|G4-G2z6
w:gual dom__ frid lar mo chroi

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Ir
From: GUEST,Joe, Boston
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 05:10 PM

Before I left Conamara there was only one person we wanted to hear singing An Caisideach Bán and that was Padraic O Cathain. He was recorded singing it for the record Grand Airs of Conamara which had the best sean-nós singing I ever heard on it. My brother had our copy when he died and his wife gave it away soon after before any of us knew what had happened to it. I hope whoever got it got as much out of it as I did. It had the words too on the inner sleeve. Does anyone know what became of Padraic O Cathain? I don't see any records of his since the new labels came out. A real pity. And you haven't heard An Caisideach Bán until you've hear him.

Subject: Lyr Add: AN CAISIDEACH BÁN (Tomás Ó Casaide)
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 06 Feb 04 - 05:05 AM

from the singing of Antaine Ó Faracháin on "Seachrán" (Cló Iar-Chonnachta)

composed by Tomás Ó Casaide around 1773

the mountains referred to in the first line are most likely Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo and Sliabh Bághna in Co Roscommon

AN CAISIDEACH BÁN

Thug me an ruaig údaí ó mhullach na Cruaiche
Chugat anuas chun an tSléibhe Bháin
Ag cur tuairisc mo chailín a d'fhag m'intinn buartha
'Gus rinne sí gual dubh de mo chroí in mo lár;
D'at mo ghuaillní go snuich mo chluasa
'gus fuair mé fógra glan géar ón mbás
Is ní duine dá gcuala mo scéal an uair sin
Nár dhúirt go mba thrua bocht é an Caisideach Bán

Ar cheann an staighre tá plúr gach maighdean
Siúd i meidhreog an bhrollaoigh bháin.
Is trua nach liom í gan buaibh gan punt í
Is í a bheith gan cuntas liom ar láimh.
Dhéanfainn teach mór dhí ar shúil an bhóthair
'gus chuirfinn cóistí faoina clainn.
Is a chúilín ómra, dha mblगteá bó dhom,
I do cheangal Fómhair ní chuirfinn suim

Is nach aisteach an réasún le gur chuir tú i gcéill dhom
Nach bhfásfadh an féar thríd an talamh aníos,
Nach ndéanfadh an ghealach a solas d'Éirinn
Nach lasfadh na réalta idtús na hoích'?
Níl brí ná éifeacht i dteas na gréine;
Nó go snámhfaidh na héisc ar an muir gan braon
Nó go n-eirí na tuilte chomh hard leis na sléibhte
Go deo ní threigfead grá mo chroí.

Is bhí mé seall ag foghlaim Béarla
'Gus dúirt an chléir go mba mhaith mo chaint,
'gus an fhad úd eile 's gan unsa céille
Ach mar na héininí faoi bharr na gcrann;
Amuigh sna oíche 's gan foscadh ná dídean
Is an sneachta dhá shíorchur fá iochtar gleann;
Is a chúilín donn deas ar chaill mé na gráimh leat
Nár fhaighe tú na grásta mura n-éalaíonn tú liom.

Is bhí mé i gcoláiste go ham mo bhearrtha
'gus ins an ardscoil ar feadh chúig mbliain
Nó gur bhfuair mé oideachas agus comhairle ón Eaglais
Ach faraor cráite, bhris mé thríd!
Is rímhór m'fhaitíos roimh Rí na nGrasta
Nach bhfuil sé i ndán dom go dtiocfad saor,
Mar is mó mo pheacaí na leath Chruach Phadraig
I ngeall ar an ngrá a thug mé d'iníon maoir.

Siúd í tharainn í an eala bhán deas,
'Gus í chomh gléasta le bean ar bith;
Is trua mar a gineadh í i mbroinn a máthar,
Mar is le haghaidh mo bháis is ea a rugadh í.
Nil bun cíbe ná aon tulán timpeall
Ná gleanntán aoibhinn mar a mbíonn mo ghrá,
Nach bhfuil ceol dhá sheinm ann de ló 'gus d'oíche
'S go bhfóire Críost ar an gCaisideach Bán!

Aisling bhréagach a facthas aréir dhom
Go raibh mé i m'aonraic ar leaba chlúmhach
Nó go dtáinig an spéirbhean is gur shín sí taobh liom,
Ba deise féachaint 's a leagan súl.
Bhí com mín cailce aici mar choinnill léimnigh,
'S a folt go féar léi ag fás go dlúth;
Bhí an bhrágha ba ghile aici ná an sneachta ar thaobh cnoic
Is í a bhásaigh mé agus na céadta liom.

Aisling bhréagach a chonaictheas aréir dom
'Gus gheit sí me thrí lár mo shuain.
Go raibh ainnirin chaoin deas na gcíocha cruinngheal
Sínte síos liom taobh ar thaobh.
Ar iontú tharam dom go tapa lúfar
Chun bheith ar chúl uirthi a bhí tanaí tréan.
Ní bhfuair mé romham ann ach binn den tsúsa
'Gus d'fhág sin brúite mé le mo shaol.

The Caisideach Bán (Fair-haired Cassidy) -translation

I wandered down from the top of the Reek,
Down to you, over at Sliabh Bán,
In search of the girl who left my mind troubled,
And who turned my heart as black as coal;
My shoulders swelled up to my ears
And I received a clear sharp warning from death;
And there wasn't one who heard my story,
Who didn't say that he'd pity the Caisideach Bán.

At the top of the stairs is the flower of all maidens;
She's the light-hearted, fair-breasted, plesant young girl.
It's a pity that she, without cattle or money,
Accountable to no-one, can't give me her hand.
I'd build her a big house there by the roadside
And provide carriages for her family.
O amber locks, if you would milk my cows for me,
How you'd tie the sheaves in autumn would worry me not.

And isn't it strange how you tried to convince
The grass couldn't grow up through the ground,
That the moon wouldn't throw her light on Ireland,
That the stars wouldn't shine at the start of the night?
There's neither strength nor vigour in the heat of the sun,
And until fish swim in a dried up ocean,
Till floods rise up as high as the mountains,
I'll never desert you, love of my heart.

And I spent a while learning English,
And the clergy said that I spoke it well,
And as long again without an ounce of sense,
No more than the birds on the tops of the trees;
Out at night without shelter or refuge,
And the snow driving down to the bottom of the glen'
And O, pretty brown locks for whom I left holy orders,
May you not get God's grace if you don't come with me.

And I was at college till the time I was shaven
And in the high school for five years.
Education and counsel I received from the Church
But alas, I paid no heed!
I greatly fear the king of Graces
That I am not to be set free,
Because my sins are as great as half of Croagh Patrick,
Because of the love I gave to a bailiff's daughter.

There she goes past us, the beautiful white swan,
And she as well adorned as any woman;
It is a pity she was conceived in her mother's womb,
It was for my death that she was born.
There is neither hill nor rushy hollow
No beautiful glen where my love is,
That music is not played by day and by night,
And may Christ have mercy on the Caisideach Bán.

A false vision I saw last night
And I was alone on a bed of down,
The beautiful lady lay down alongside me.
She was so pretty with the most beautiful eyes.
She had a smooth chalk-white waist like flickering candles,
And her hair flowed down so thickly to the grass.
Her complexion was brighter than the mountain-side's snow;
It was she who killed me and with me hundreds more.

A false vision I saw last night,
And it startled me from the depths of my sleep,
That the nice kind maiden of the bright firm breasts
Lay herself down by my side
As I turned around, quickly and swiftly
To catch her tresses, who was so thin and so firm,
All I found was the edge of the blanket
And that has left me bereft, for life.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Ir
From: GUEST,Boston Joe
Date: 06 Feb 04 - 07:57 AM

Yes, those are the words. Thanks. A friend in Boston has a CD of Grand Airs of Connemara which was reissued in Ireland but the words aren't with the CD. He gave me a loan of it last week and it brought me back. That singing of this song by Pádraic Ó Catháin is unbeatable. I never heard of this Antaine Ó Faracháin before. He might be good too but hearing POC brings such a great memory back to me. Is there any chance that there are more recordings of that man? There are just four songs by him on Grand Airs and there was one on a record called More Grand Airs of Connemara which we used to have here too. That was Liam Ó Reilly. Johnny Joe Phatcheen is on the two records too. Thats all I need to bring me back across the Atlantic. Those two had the songs and they had the singing. Johnny is dead now, but is Pádraic alive do people know?

Subject: RE: An Caiseadach Bán
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 06 Feb 04 - 08:04 AM

They say you're in the next parish to Boston, Joe, so you may be better placed to find out about Pádraic Ó Catháin.

Antaine is a Dublin man with Conamara Irish. used to write at Mudcat, now writes as An Rogaire Dubh at www.beo.ie

I left out part of the album title that he sings on, Seachrán Sí !
I've been looking through the CIC catalogue and I see another recording of An Casaideach Bán on sung by Seán 'ac Dhonncha   on CICD006 "An Spailpín Fánach"   (1994) - as mentioned by Joe

Subject: RE: Thug mé rúide / An Caiseadach Bán
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 06 Feb 04 - 12:16 PM

I meant of course that Boston is the next parish to Leitir Mór, for Joe implies that he's left Conamara for Boston.

The Donegal version, Thug Mé Rúide, is also on a recording of Éamonn Mac Ruairí and Patricia Nic Ruairí of Tory Island on "Toraigh Ó Thuaidh" CIC023 (Cló Iar-Chonnachta)

Subject: Tune Add: AN CAISIDEACH BAN (from Tomás Ó Canainn)
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 09 Feb 04 - 10:15 AM

X:1
T:An Caisideach Ban
N: from Tomás Ó Canainn, "Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland".
N:Cork: Ossian, 1995
N:contributed by Philippa
I:abc2nwc
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:D
z4D3/4 E/4 F/2 G/2|A3/2 B/2 =c (3A/2B/2^c/2 d3/4 c/4 A/2 G/2|
F3/2 E/2 D3/2 D/2 E3/8 F/2 G/2|G/2 E/2 F3/2 E/2 D3/2 D/2|
D2zF/2 E/2 D3/4 E/4 F/2 G/2|A3/2 B/2 =c (3A/2B/2^c/2 d3/4 c/4 A/2 G/2|
F3/2 E/2 D3/2 D/2 D3/4 E/4 F/2 G/2|
A G/2 E/2 F3/2 E/2 D3/2 D/2|D3A d3/2 e/2|
f3/2 e/2 d (3e/2d/2c/2 d3/2 e/2|d3/2 c/2 A A/2 B/2 c3/2 d/2|
(3edc (3dcA (3cde|d2zf/2 e/2 (3dcB|
=c3/2 B/2 c (3A/2B/2^c/2 d3/4 c/4 A/2 G/2|
F3/2 E/2 D3/2 D/2 D3/4 E/4 F/2 G/2|
A G/2 E/2 F3/2 E/2 D3/2 D/2|D4z2|]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 11:12 PM

Would anyone know or have a translation of the meaning of this Thug Mé Rúide, I've somehow gotten the song on a CD, and it's beautiful, and I'd love to know the meaning. email at bnmorgan at bellsouth dot net if it's not too much trouble. much thanks.

Byron Morgan
Tupelo Mississippi

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Ir
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 04 - 03:59 AM

Thug mé an rúide is obviously composite. It begins with a "version" of An Caisideach Bán, includes a verse more commonly associated with Dónall Óg and also includes material from an Droighneán Donn. An Caisideach Bán, in the versions quoted or alluded to above, has retained in traditional transmission a text very close to manuscript testaments not far removed in date from the time of Tomás Ó Casaide himself. The Ulster song is not, however, the only one to tack on these verses as some Connaught versions, which retain the Caisideach aspect much more than the Ulster ones, also tack on some of these same verses.

The better sung recordings, that championed by Boston Joe above and Seán 'ac Dhonncha's , retain a very interesting intermodal melody which betrays the ecclesiastical origins of the central "Caisideach song" and highlights the difference between true traditional transmission in a community where song and singing was an integral part of the culture and the more partial transmission of more recent generations and "revivalish" singers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Ir
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Dec 04 - 04:30 AM

Coincidence

This morning's programme of Nead na Fuiseoige on Radio na Gaeltachta includes a version of An Buachaillín Bán from Donegal. Text very similar to some of the Donegal texts being discussed here.

It will be there for less than 24 hours. (Any way of saving streaming files?)

www.rnag.ie

Click "Éist le Clár" on LHS
Click "Ceol/Music" in list on next page
Scroll to bottom of list where "Nead na Fuiseoige" is.

Don't know if this is on record by Annie Eoghain Éamoin or if it is from RnaG/RTÉ archives.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST,aoi eile
Date: 10 Dec 04 - 06:19 AM

should the above message belong on the Buachaillín Bán threads?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 02 May 05 - 02:56 AM

Padraic O Cathain lives in Barna as far as I know.
Regarding Caisdeach Ban etc, and its transmission, there is a good chance that the very fine text quoted above from AOF's singing, current in Conamara now, has been influenced by that published in "Amhrain Chlainne Gael," edited by the O Maille brothers in 1905 and republished by CIC, ed. William Mahon in 1990 or '89, as have a number of other songs sung in the same area. The "Ulster" text "Thug me Ruide" is peculiar to Tory island and does not, as far as I am aware, contain a verse usually found in Donall Og. As to the oft repeated error that it contains a verse from An Droighnean Donn; it has only one line in common with DD, "Da mbeinn 'mo bhadoir nach deas mar shnamhfainn." DD's line is "Da mbeinn 'mo bhadoir nach deas mar shnamhfainn an fharraige anonn," where TMR's line goes "Da mbeinn 'mo bhadoir nach deas mar shnamhfainn gach ceann is gach cearn a mbiodh gra mo chroi." The commonality ends there, and amounts to no more than that shared by some other songs,which is to be expected in an orally transmitted tradition, largely independent of manuscript influence as Tory undoubtedly was before the late nineteenth century, especially for Irish language song. This text is not a "revival" text despite the claim made above. The issue of a what a "composite" is is also debatable, again given the strong oral component in transmission, in a culture where literacy was extremely limited and decreasing all the time. Is there a hierarchy of authenticity being invoked here?
Brian O'Rourke, in his discussion in "Pale Rainbow", has pointed out that "Thug me Ruide" reveals a detail of Cassidy's story that is not otherwise attested, that he continued to perform marriages - "phosfainn lanuin, da mbiodh siad sasta ar ghreim dha laimh agus le ceangal cruaidh." BO'R also correctly points out that the twin processes of attrition and accretion are an integral part of any living folk tradition, so that variants, floaters, extra verses and truncated versions, are to be expected and cannot simply be dismissed as corruption.
In fact, it is interesting and instructive to compare TMR from Tory to the Aranmore Island variant on Roise na nAmhran's "Songs of a Donegal Woman." ed. Cathal Goan 1994 (RTE). Roise's AABA tune is clearly related to the Tory ABAB version, and could even be said to have been picked up from it or from a similar air. Clearly, the learner only got the the first phrase of the melody, not having picked up the "turn". The version by Aine Ui Laoi from Gaoth Dobhir, is similar to the Tory tune in its ABAB structure but otherwise quite different. Another interesting variant was sung by Joe McCafferty from near Bloody Foreland and is to be found on a cassette produced by Hugh Shields, "Ceolta agus Seanchas Thir Chonaill," available from Ulster Songs. This air is very close to "Thug me Ruide" but is sung more rhythmically. Neili Ni Dhomhnaill also sang a version of this song to a tune that she also used for the English ballad "As I Roved out on a bright May morning."
Roise na nAmhran's beautiful melody and text has recently been taken across the North Channel and peformed by the renowned Scottish singer Mairi Smith on her acclaimed recent album "Sgiath Airgid."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST,George
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 06:42 PM

Aren't these tunes all the bloody same?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: michaelr
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 09:35 PM

Yeah, just like all Guests are.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 06:19 AM

A chairde, Tá Pádraig Ó Catháin, an fear a luadh sa snáithe seo i dtús báire tar éis bháis. Méala mór dá mhuintir, dá chairde agus d'oirfidí na hÉireann. 'An Caisideach Bán' ina thost. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal ceolmhar agus leaba i measc na naomh go raibh aige.

Pádraig Ó Catháin, mentioned as the unsurpassed performer of 'An Caisideach Bán,' in this thread has died. 12.00 requiem Mass today in Eaglais na bhForbacha, Co. na Gaillimhe, interrment afterwards in Reilig na Tulaí Buí. R.I.P.

Subject: Lyr Add: An Caisideach Ban (Irish trad)
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 May 16 - 06:41 PM

This is another sean-nós song arranged for voice and piano, and recorded for HMV (on a 78 single) by Máire Ní Scolaí, as long as sixty to seventy years ago. The performance can be accessed free of charge as a YouTube "video." Given the brevity of 78's, the performers could manage maybe two or three stanzas of a traditional Irish song like this one.

This thread is generous with the lyrics, and I wish I could have recognized them on the sound recording, but as ignorant as I am of the Gaelic, I found it a real challenge to recognize anything more than the final lines of the first verse.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: An Caisideach Ban
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Jun 16 - 02:06 PM

Where Máire Ní Scolaí got the melody with which she sings "An Caisideach Bán," I despair of finding out. The melody in her version sounds a long way from traditional modal structure; indeed, her melody sounds suspiciously diatonic and classical. As her performance is a voice-piano arrangement in the first place, I honestly question if someone did not take the traditional lyrics and then compose this very "vanilla" flavored tune (yeah I'm posting from the US, so not "flavoured") for the non-traditionally-musical majority of Ní Scolaí's listeners. Well, of course it is a lovely performance, I never tire of listening to the pleasure of it, and the mezzo-soprano herself is in the best of voice with her delivery at its most seductive (check out those really soft phrases). But it is concert-hall stuff for all that.
Many of Máire Ní Scolaí's tunes can be traced back to Eileen Costello's printed collection, Amhráin Mhuighe Seóla, published initially by the Irish Folk-Song Society; and that collection does have "An Caisideach Bán" in it; but the printed melody has little or nothing in common with the melody on the 78 RPM single recorded for HMV by Ní Scolaí.

So the traditional versions of this remarkable song will be passed on, in some form or other; while the HMV recording probably has no future outside the archives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5oTBw1RWjA

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Jun 16 - 03:23 PM

I have to eat my words today, I apologize.

Just listened to the recording (YouTube video) of this sean_nós sung by Josie Sheáin Jeaic MacDonncha. This recording proves me wrong. It is a melody very closely related to the one recorded for HMV by Máire Ní Scolaí.

True, the mezzo-soprano's arrangement, accompanied by piano, modifies the tune considerably; most if not all of the ornamentation is gone, and in places the melodic line itself has been sort of flattened and ironed out, taking out the texture of it, the wrinkles and the pleats, to resemble a series of gently curving rises and falls. So, no, the two tunes are not identical; yet the relation between them is clear.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: An Caisideach Ban (sean-nos)
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Jun 16 - 04:06 PM

In his Religious Songs of Connacht, Douglas Hyde devoted a great deal of paper and ink to this particular song. So much so, that three versions of a single lyric are given:
the Gaelic, to start with;
a prose English translation;
and a poetic English version with meter and rhyme.
This thread would be a better place than most to provide a home for the important article written by Hyde in presenting this text. With my rudimentary data-entry and word-processing skills, it is going to take me many posts to do what other Mudcat members could do in one or two posts, but the content is valuable however it can be transmitted.

This article is online at books.google.com, in Volume XV of the New Ireland Review, dated March to August 1901, Dublin: the New Ireland Review Offices. In the series of issues within this bound volume, Douglas Hyde presents, in serial form, excerpts from the Religious Songs of Connacht. The presentation is actually cleaner and easier to read than in Hyde's big printed songbook.

A list of the selected songs in this collection:
An Sagart Tadhg Ó Ruairc
An Caisideach Bán, no, An Bráithrín Buaidheartha
the story (not poetic, nor sung) of An Sagart Chuaidh ar Mire
and
Fáilte A Mháthair

Subject: Lyr Add: An Caisideach Ban (Irish sean-nos)
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Jun 16 - 03:09 PM

from page 124, volume XV, New Ireland Review (1901) by Douglas Hyde: excerpted from his Religious Songs of Connacht

AN CAISIDEACH BÁN no AN BRÁITHRÍN BUAIDHEARTHA

THE FAIR-HAIRED CASSIDY   or THE TROUBLED FRIAR

[traditional Gaelic; English translation, Douglas Hyde]

I.   A dhaoine and truagh libh an bráithrín buaidheartha
    Atá d'á ruagadh anonn 's anall
    Measg gleannta dorcha agus sléibhte uaigneach
    Go ndearnadh gual d'á chroidhe 'na lár

    D'at mo ghuailne go dti mo chluasa
    Agus fuair me fuagradh glan géar ó 'n mbás
    Ní 'l duine do chualaidh mo sgéal an uair sin
    Nár dhubhairt go mbudh truagh é an Caisideach Bán

O people, do you think him a pity, the troubled friar
Who is routed backwards and forwards
Amidst dark valleys and lonely mountains
Until a coal has been made of his heart in his middle

My shoulders have swelled to my ears
And I have got a clear sharp warning from death
There is not a person who heard my story at that time
That did not say that he was a pity, the Fair-Haired Cassidy

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Jun 16 - 03:32 PM

continued, page 124 (magazine serial version), Douglas Hyde

II.   Is súd í siar an eala ghlégeal
      Agus í chomh gleusta le mnaoi an righ
      An oidhche rugadh í as broinn a máthar
      I gcoinne mo bháis do tháinig sí

      Nár suarach 'na h-éagmhais dá bhfághainn Éire
      A 's mé 'g mo shéanadh ag mo cháirdibh gaoil
      A 's tu 'g mo mharbhadh le do ghean a spéir-bhean
      A chuaidh mé d' á h-éiliughadh agus nach bhfuighinn

Yonder she is, back there, the bright white swan
And she as well-dressed as the wife of the king
The night that she was born from her mother's womb
It was for the purpose of my death she came

Were it not miserable without her, if I should get all Ireland
And I being denied by my friends and relatives
And you killing me with your affection O sky-woman
Whom I went to ask for, and might not get

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Jun 16 - 03:48 PM

continued, page 124, Douglas Hyde (excerpt, Religious Songs)

III. Ni ar shléibhtibh fraoich á bhidheas mo mhian-sa
      Acht i ngleanntaibh aoibhne mbíonn meas ag fás
      Ba agus laoighthe agus bric na sgaoithibh
      Cruithneacht bhuidhe agus éorna bhán

      Bíonn mil ar luachra agus im ar uachtar
      A's i lár an fhuacht' bíonn na ba faoi dháir
      'S dá mbeinn-se críona bheith m'árus déanta
      Agus mil d'á taodhmadh ag mo mhuirnín bán

Not upon mountains of heather is the one I desire
But in delightful valleys in which fruit is growing
Cows and calves and trout in shoals
Yellow wheat and white barley

There is honey on the rush and butter on the cream
And in the midst of the cold the cows are fruitful
And if I had been wise, my abode would be made
And my fair love would have honey pouring out abundantly

Subject: Lyr Add: An Caisideach Ban (Irish sean-nos)
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Jun 16 - 06:12 PM

continued, pge 124, Douglas Hyde (New Ireland Review series, 1901)

IV.   Nach bradach bréagach cuireadh i gcéill di
       Nach bhfásann féar ann san áit a mbím
       Nach dtig ó 'n ngealaigh a soillse bréige
       'S nach lasann réalt ann ar feach na h-oidhch' !

       Go n-éalaigh an fuacht a 's teas na gréine
       Go n-éagfaidh éisg san muir gan braon
       Go n-éirigh' an fhairrge os cionn na sléibhte
       Go bráth ni shéanfad cuid mo chroidhe

Was it not mean and lying of them, to give her to understand
That no grass grows in the place where I am
That the moon does not reflect the sun's beams
And that no star gleams throughout the night

Till the cold and the heat of the sun shall depart
Till the fish shall die in the sea without a drop [of water]
Till the ocean shall rise over the mountains
I shall not deny for ever the portion of my heart

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: An Caisideach Ban (Douglas Hyde)
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 02:46 PM

"An Caisideach Bán" is so frequently included in anthologies and collections of traditional Irish song, and has been for over a hundred years, that editors routinely attach end-notes or footnotes commenting on the other editions. The comment often directed toward Douglas Hyde's version, in his "Religious Songs of Connacht," is the additional verses that he found about a woman coming to then-priest Cassidy for confession and being seduced by him.

Among the sources for the version which he edited and published, Douglas Hyde makes mention of "an old man named Fallon, who used to be in Castelrea, in the County Roscommon." From Mr. Fallon, Hyde gleaned three quatrains, but rather than attach them to his edited version, Hyde appended the quatrains -- and their translations -- as footnotes. Here they are.

1.   D'úmhlaigh an cúilfhionn dam ar a glúnaibh
       Agus faraor, rinneas an nidh nár chóir
       Óir budh é an breitheamhnas-aithrighe bhíar an gcúis sin
       Gur ghoid mise uaithi siúcra a póg

The "cúilfhionn" bowed down to me on her knees
And alas, I did a thing that was not right
For the penance that was in that case
Was that I stole from her the sugar of her kiss

2.   Dho bhí bhean-uasal seal d' á luadh liom
       Agus chuir mé suas dí céad faraor géar
       Agus phór mé an stuaic-bhean an mala gruama
       Do rinne gual díom i lár mo chléibh

There was a lady [i.e., Bride of Christ? The Church? The Blessed Mother?] once upon a time betrothed to me,
And I gave her up, a hundred times bitter alas
And I married the hard woman of the gloomy brow
Who has made a coal of me in the middle of my breast

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 03:05 PM

...and the concluding quatrain from Mr. Fallon of Castelrea, County Roscommon. [edited by Douglas Hyde, 1901]

3.   Dá mbeith an 'chance' sin ar tharsainn an teampoill
       Bheidhinn san am sin ar mo chómhairle féin
       Acht, anois, tá mé caillte a 's ní 'l gar i gcaint orm
       Agus béidh mo chlann bhocht ag gol mo dhéigh

If that chance had happened at the threshold of the Church [i.e., before Cassidy was ordained]
I would have been then at my own disposal
But now I am lost and there is no use in talking about me
And my poor children shall be weeping after me

pp. 125 and 128, New Ireland Review volume XV, 1901
excerpted from Religious Songs of Connacht

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Casaideach Ban
From: Felipa
Date: 09 May 22 - 05:38 PM

a recording and lyrics: https://seannos.tg4.ie/baile/amhranaithe/micheal-o-confhaola/an-casaideach-ban-sean-nos/

I am seeing a few different spellings of the name An Casaideach (TG4, Irish language television spelling) and An Caisideach is used in the Joe Heaney archive website. All observe the spelling rule of pairing slender vowels (e,i) or broad vowels (a,o,u) on either side of a vowel. It's like saying like "the O'Cassidy", as the author's surname was Ó Casaide. I wonder if he leaned much on traditional sources, or if the other versions such as the Donegal rendition of Thug Mé Ruide are evidence of the folk process working on Ó Casaide's composition - or both things happened in the development of this song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 10 May 22 - 02:41 PM

Just for the record and briefly to get this in before the site goes down again:

Brian O'Rourke in 'Pale Rainbow' has some remarks on An Caísideach Bán. As well as a detailed notation of the air (from Seán 'ac Donncha's singing), the words and his own translation.
Among many other things, he refers to a Tory island version 'An Gaiscíoch Bán'.

Anyhow, I have a version of the air Séamus Ennis played (he was recorded playing it during the late 1940s at a concert in Ennis), which, if I remember correctly, he got from a man called McNamara who was resident of the Ennis workhouse. The meeting between collector and singer are documented in Ennis' collector's field diary 'Mise an fear ceoil' or Going to the well for water, depending on your language of choice for reading the book.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: Felipa
Date: 10 May 22 - 03:29 PM

Gaiscaíoch means a "hero" or "warrior" and sounds something like "Caiseadach". I've read that the surname "Ó Casaide" may mean curly-haired. A "cas" is a turn or a bend, so curlyhaired is plausible.

Notes from The Doegen Recordshttps://www.doegen.ie/LA_1248d2:

    "These verses are most commonly sung as part of the well-known song ‘An Caisideach Bán’. Mary Costello (Galway) and Pádraig Ó Néill (Galway) sing Connacht versions elsewhere in the Doegen collection. Cathal Goan notes that the verses on the present recording and verses from ‘An Draighneán Donn’ and ‘Mailí Mhómhar’ are often found together in Donegal, where the song is known as ‘An Gaiscíoch Bán’ or ‘An Buachaill Bán’. See Cathal Goan (ed.), Róise na nAmhrán: songs of a Donegal woman (RTÉ, 1994), 39. Róise Bean Mhic Grianna (‘Róise na nAmhrán’) sings it under the title ‘Dá mBeinn i mo Bhádóir’ on the accompanying CD. Éamonn Mac Ruairí (Tory Island) and Áine Uí Laoi (Gaoth Dobhair/Gweedore) sing Donegal versions on Seoda sean-nóis as Tír Chonaill (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 1996), where introductory notes and texts are provided by Lillis Ó Laoire. Ó Laoire (personal correspondence) notes that in Donegal versions the phrase ‘An Buachaill Bán’ is most often used instead of ‘An Caisideach Bán’ (see end of the second verse in the present recording). Altan include a version of the song on Celtic myths (Proper Recording Arts SA, 2002)."

The above paragraph is quoted at https://songsinirish.com/thug-me-ruide-lyrics/ as is the anonymous guest's 9 Dec 2004 comment on this discussion thread - with no mention of the Mudcat Café. You can disregard the abysmal machine generated translation on Songs in Irish page, and "Cruaiche" is the correct spelling not "Crudiche" (it may have been cruadhaiche before the spelling was modernized?). Also in the first line of Thug Mé Ruide, Mullaigh or Mullach are both acceptable.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Thug me ruide / An Caiseadach Ban (Irish
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 10 May 22 - 03:50 PM

Gaiscaíoch means a "hero" or "warrior" and sounds something like "Caiseadach"

As O'Rourke says :

{..] Tory Island version of the song, where he is not properly named, but referred to as 'an gaiscíoch bán' ('the fair hero') [...]

So yes, that fits.