This is the song Hiugh Shields included in his 'Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry as an Irish language version of 'The Two Sisters
Jim CarrollBAILE LEO
- Tiocfaidh m'athair amarach
Anuas chun an chladaigh, a hórú,
'S gheobhaidh sémise, mo hiúirí ceo,
'Mo bhradán bheag bháite i mBaile Leo.
in Baile Leo.Bhí leinbh bán agam, a shíoru,
Bhí leinbh bán agam, a hírú,
Bhí leinbh bán agam, mo húirí ceo,
'gCionn a thrí ráithe i mBaile Leo.
quarters in Baile Leo.Nach iomaí bean óg, a shíorú,
Thógfas-sa m'áit, a horu:
Fuinneogaí gloinne, a húirí ceo,
Agus rúmanaí bána i mBaile Leo?
rooms in Baile Leo?
as v. 2 (as verse 2)Tabhair mo bheannacht, a shíoriú,
Innseoir mo mháthair, a hóriú,
Tabhair mo bheannacht, a hiúirí ceo,
Innseoir shíol Éabha i mBaile Leo.
in Baile Leo.Translation
My father will come
tomorrow Down to the
shore And get me,
A little drowned salmon,I had a little child
And (another) little child
And (another) little child
After threeAre there not many young women
Would take my place: Glass
windows And white
Take my blessing To my mother,
Take my blessing To the seed of EveSpoken: Well, ansin amhrán ... (?) cainnt ann fo Bhaile Leo. Do you see, beirt bhan thíos sa chladach ag baint duilisc nó carraigín am amháin. Is (bhí an) bhí an bheirt i ndiaidh fear amháin. Agus ba mhaith leithe deireadh a chur leis an bhean eile, agus cha raibh a fhios aici cé b'fhearr dí a dhéanamh. Bhí triúir pháiste aici, ag bean acu agus cha raibh ... (?) ar bith ag an bhean eile: agus í i ndiaidh an fhear s'aici-se. Agus ba mhaith leithe deireadh a chur leithe-se. Agus ansin cha raibh a fhios aici cé b'fhearr dí a dhéanamh. Agus nuair a fuair sí seans uirthi, bhí an ghruag fada uirthi agus cheangail sí an ghruag don leathach a bhí ag snámh sa chladach (ar an chnoc) ar an chloch. Agus d'fhág si ansin í go dtí (go) gur báitheadh i.
This is a song... talk in it about Baile Leo. Do you see, two women were down at the shore gathering dulse or carrageen one time. And both of them were after the one man. And she would have liked to get rid of the other woman, and she didn't know the best thing to do. One of the women had three children and the other had none..., and she was after the woman's husband. And she wanted to get rid of the woman. And she didn't know the best thing to do. And when she got a chance, the woman's hair was long and she tied it to the seaweed that was floating on the rock. And she left her there till she was drowned.
Cf. The two sisters {Child no. 10). Sung and spoken by Willy Duggan, East end, Tory, among friends and visitors in his brother-in-law's house, Middle town, Tory, on the evening of Saturday 30 August 1969. This song is very well known in the Hebrides, where many longer texts have been collected. These present an alternating dialogue between two women, married and single, sisters perhaps or a mistress and servant, the married woman drowning while the other, out of desire for her husband, refuses to save her. Probably the strange and terrifying idea of murder effected by tying a victim's hair to the seaweed at ebb tide was suggested to the maritime Gaelic poet by the knots and plaits mentioned in some versions of the ballad in English. The Gaelic song completely transforms the mode of narration; yet it leaves the theme unchanged and was undoubtedly inspired by the ballad. Sometimes used for cloth-waulking in the Hebrides, its common title there is A' bhean eudach (The jealous woman).
Like the text, the pentatonic Donegal air came from Scotland: compare for example the first air given by Frances Tolmie in Journal of the Folk-Song Society V (1911) 205-7. Several other texts have been noted in Donegal, and in Munster there are traces of a further adaptation of the song in Irish.