Origins: MacCrimmon's Lament

Subject: Dick Gaughan - unknown lament
From: Lancashire Lad
Date: 09 Feb 04 - 04:15 AM

A fewe years ago I saw Dick Gaughan playing live in Colne (Lancs). In the course of the show, he sang unacompanied a lament for a piper.
Does anyone know the title and where I might find this piece?

LL

Subject: Lyr Add: MACCRIMMON'S LAMENT
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 09 Feb 04 - 04:26 AM

This sounds like MacCrimmon's Lament learned from the singing of Jeannie Robertson which was on Dick Gaughan's first solo album No More Forever (1972), the title of which was taken from the text.

Dick has written:

'According to legend, the MacCrimmon in question was Donald MacCrimmon, of the MacCrimmon family who, again legend has it, were the famous Skye family of pipers. He is supposed to have been killed at a small skirmish called the Rout of Moy in 1746 during the last Jacobite campaign.

Legend also has it that he had a premonition of his death and composed this tune the night before. The words are reputedly by his sister.'
                  
MACCRIMMON'S LAMENT

Doun Coullin's peaks the night is sailin
The banshee crouns her note o wailin
Bit my blue een wi sorrow are streamin
For him that will never return - MacCrimmon

No more, no more, no more forever
In war nor in peace shall return MacCrimmon
Till daws the great day o doul an burnin
MacCrimmon is home no more returnin

The breeze on the braes is mournfully moanin
The brook in the hallow is plaintively mournin
Bit my blue een wi sorrow are streamin
For him that will never return - MacCrimmon

(trad arr Gaughan)

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan - unknown lament
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 02:26 AM

Yes, almost certainly MacCrimmon's Lament. The finest rendition I've come across is By Caroline Robson, on a cd called "All the fine Young Men". I have it somewhere in my chaotic filing system, but can't lay hands on it right now! This cd is recommended for ALL of its content, by the way.

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan - unknown lament
From: Lancashire Lad
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 04:34 AM

Thanks for the info

LL

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan - unknown lament
From: GUEST,weerover
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 05:15 AM

Another fine recording some time back by a young Isla St. Clair

wr

Subject: Lyr Add: CUMHA MHIC CRIOMAIN
From: Artful Codger
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:18 PM

Sheila Chandra sings an interesting, haunting version as well, blended with Indian vocal stylings.

Dick Gaughan wrote: ...this is a rough translation from the Gaelic lament, "Cha till e tuile". On Donald MacDonald's website I found this version. He also supplies a translation, but for reasons of copyright...

CUMHA MHIC CRIOMAIN

Dh'iath ceò nan stùc
Mu aodan Chuillin,
Is sheinn a bhean shìth
A torman mulaid,
Gorm shùilean ciùin
'S an dùn a sileadh,
O'n thriall thu bhuainn
'S nach till thu tuille.

Cha till, cha till,
Cha till MacCriomain;
An cogadh no sith
Cha till e tuille.
Le airgiod no nì
Cha till MacCriomain;
Cha till e gu brath
Gu là na cruinne.

Tha osag nam beann
Gu fann ag iomachd,
Gach sruthan 's gach allt
Gu mall le bruthach;
Tha ealtainn nan speur
Troimh gheùgan duilleach,
A caoidh gu'n dh'fhalbh
'S nach till thu tuille.

Cha till ...

Cha chluinnear do cheòl
'S an dùn mu fheasgar,
'S Mac-Talla na mùr
Le mùirn ga fhreagairt:
Gach fleasgach is òigh
Gun cheòl 's gun bheadradh,
O'n thriall thu bhuainn
'S nach till thu tuille.

Cha till ...

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan - unknown lament
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:22 PM

For a more complete text, posted here 8 years ago, see  MacCRIMMON'S LAMENT / CUMHA MHIC CRIOMAIN.

Subject: MacCrimmon's Lament
From: Artful Codger
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:36 PM

Malcolm: Do you know whether the additional verse (3. Tha 'n fhairge) is in Cockburn's "The Singing Tradition of Scotland" as well?

Can someone supply a translation of the third verse?

Subject: RE: Dick Gaughan - unknown lament
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:24 PM

No, I don't. It doesn't appear in Bruce Campbell's Orain nan Gaidheal, either; but you can be sure that anything cited by Murray on Saltspring is pretty reliable.

Donald MacDonalds's site  ( http://www3.sympatico.ca/donaldmacdonald/songs.htm )  sadly credits no source for the text he reproduces.

For Lachlan MacBean's translation, see  http://ingeb.org/songs/chatille.html

A few other websites quote forms of the song including that verse, but the one I indicate is the only one I've found that credits a source beyond transcription from a modern recorded arrangement.

Subject: Lyr Add: MACCRIMMON'S LAMENT (tr. J S Blackie)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Sep 11 - 06:05 PM

From The Language and Literature of the Scottish Highlands By John Stuart Blackie (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1876), page 299:

The well-known mournful air, "MacCrimmon's Lament," composed by M'Leod of Dunvegan's piper, under the strong presentiment that he was going forth on an expedition from which he would never return, appears in Finlay Dun's Collection, with a translation by Moir, the wellknown Delta of Blackwood's Magazine. The following is by myself:—

MACCRIMMON'S LAMENT (tr. J S Blackie)

Round Cullen's peak the mist is sailing,
The banshee croons her note of wailing,
Mild blue eyne with sorrow are streaming
For him that shall never return, MacCrimmon!

The breeze on the brae is mournfully blowing!
The brook in the hollow is plaintively flowing,
The warblers, the soul of the groves, are mourning,
For MacCrimmon that's gone, with no hope of returning!

The tearful clouds the stars are veiling,
The sails are spread, but the boat is not sailing,
The waves of the sea are moaning and mourning
For MacCrimmon that's gone to find no returning!

No more on the hill, at the festal meeting,
The pipe shall sound with echo repeating,
And lads and lasses change mirth to mourning
For him that is gone to know no returning!

No more, no more, no more for ever,
In war or peace, shall return MacCrimmon;
No more, no more, no more for ever
Shall love or gold bring back MacCrimmon!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: MacCrimmon's Lament (from Dick Gaughan)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 03:52 PM

Thread #9450   Message #3729874
Posted By: GUEST
12-Aug-15 - 02:57 PM
Thread Name: Isla St Clair
Subject: RE: Isla St Clair
anyone has the lyrics for MacCrimmon lament as it sung by Isla St Clair???

---

From Joe: It's quite different from the lyrics of other versions. Here's a link to a recording. I don't know if I can understand enough of it to do a good transcription. Anybody want to make a stab at it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlMpIkApc4

---

MACCRIMMON'S LAMENT (from the Digital Tradition)

Round Cuillin's peak the mist is sailing
The banshee croons her note of wailing
But my blue e'en wi' sorrow are streaming
For him that will never return - MacCrimmon

No more, no more, no more forever
In war or peace shall return MacCrimmon
No more, no more, no more forever
Shall love or gold bring back MacCrimmon

The breezes on the braes are mournfully moaning
The brook in the hollow is plaintively mourning
But my blue e'en wi' sorrow are streaming
For him that will never return - MacCrimmon

No more, no more, no more forever
In war or peace shall return MacCrimmon
No more, no more, no more forever
Shall love or gold bring back MacCrimmon

@death @love
sung by Jean Redpath
filename[ MACCRIM
SOF

Subject: RE: Origins: MacCrimmon's Lament
From: GUEST,Alan Ross
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 11:05 PM

For what it's worth there is also another MacCRimmon song based on the same legendary Piper MacCRimmon but the Itma database of "Irish" (sic) songs gives a totally different song of that name with a different tune.
Seldom heard now, my father recorded it on a 1967 album - not one of his own songs. I am unsure who wrote this one, seems in the 20th century idiom.

Piper MacCrimmon
The chorus goes something like.

"Lilting pipes are echoing eerily
- over mountain, valley, and glen.
Piobaireachd sounding - restlessly, wearily.
Piper MacCrimmon is haunting the glen".

It's a Scots tenor type of thing - and not one any folk singer would go for, but it shows how the same Piper inspired songs and tunes.

Subject: RE: Origins: MacCrimmon's Lament
From: GUEST,Alan Ross
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 12:23 AM

Itma has the Gaelic song has an on-line recording under the title of Piper McCrimmon.

This is the other song called
Piper McCrimmon transcribed:

Piper McCrimmon

registered writer/composer Hestor Nicol
Pub. Kerr's Music.

Introduction:

As I sit here alone, in the cool evening shade.
And look down on the glen where McCrimmon once played.
Like the cool crystal water, of yon mountain stream.
I hear the sweet melody, played in my dream....

Through the woodland, onto the shieling.
Once again I hear this refrain.
Through the forest, quietly steeling,
Ever enchanting I hear it again.

Lilting pipes are echoing eerliy,
Over valley, mountain and ben.
Piobaireachd sounding, restlessly, wearily.
Piper McCrimmon is haunting the glen.

Now I hear McCrimmon's farewell,
the golden sun sinks low in the west.
Still the woodland's under his spell
McCrimmon the piper has come home to rest.

Chorus:

Lilting pipes....
Piper McCrimmon is haunting the glen.
Piper McCrimmon is haunting the glen.

Subject: RE: Origins: MacCrimmon's Lament
From: Reinhard
Date: 15 Aug 15 - 09:06 AM

This is what I hear Isla St Clair singing. Warning: there may be mondegreens present ;-)

MACCRIMMON'S LAMENT (Isla St Clair on her album Inheritance)

A misty road unfolds round Coolin
A dirge of woe the banshee is croonin
But my blue e'en they wail and seething
Since thou art gone and no returning.

The breeze o'er the ben is gently stealing
As doon their braes the burnlets come creeping
Birds in high trees they wail and seething
Since thou art gone and no restoring.

O'er the doon at e'en your piping is silent
Nor echoing hills in like replying
My lover's fond kiss is fondly quieted
Since thou art gone, for I, for ever.

Cha till, cha till, cha till MacCrimmon
In peace nor in war return no never
No treasure nor road shall bring MacCrimmon
Till dawns the glad day that joins us ever.

Glossary (from the album's liner notes): banshee: death spirit; e'en: eyes; ben: hill; doon: down; braes: slopes; burnlets: small streams

According to Hamish Henderson's sleeve notes on her 1971 album Isla St Clair Sings Traditional Scottish Songs, this translation from the Gaelic was made in 1966 by Geordie Macdonald, a native Gaelic speaker from Lewis.

Subject: RE: Origins: MacCrimmon's Lament
From: Felipa
Date: 16 Jan 23 - 05:52 PM

see also https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/maccrimmonslament.html and http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/mccormack/maccrimmon.htm