I see this thread active again but Joe has not yet tied it together.
In any case Cailin Mo Ruin -sa is one of the more popular Gaelic songs heard in cape Breton.
As for Hrothgar wondering about God wanting people to sing in English I would wonder why?
Perhaps this song that I wrote would explain. I think that I posted this on an earlier thread.
Sandy

THE STORY OF GAELIC

Once Gaelic was the language of the land,
Spoken here by every woman, child, and man;
For when God created Adam, He decided He would have him
Speak the tongue in which the angels sang.

Where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow,
At a time so many thousand years ago,
The people down in Babel built a tower that would travel
From this earth way up to heaven, so I'm told.

But the Lord, He wasn't very pleased at all,
And decided their construction He would stall;
So He took away their Gaelic, left them all ranting and raving,
Speaking languages each other didn't know.

But then the Lord spoke to a chosen few,
Saying, "Gaelic I will now give back to you;
For I know that you still love me and won't put yourselves above me.
The Gaelic will be just for me and you."

Father John Angus Rankin used to tell
His people to avoid the gates of hell;
But when heaven's call you're heeding, the Gaelic you'll be needing.
It's the language of the garden; learn it well.

2002
A.McLean
4 Oak Crescent
Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia
Canada B9A 3H4
a.mclean@ns.sympatico.ca

Song converted from all caps. --JoeClone, 12-May-03.