Thanks, Brian, for another take on this song of varying richness to various people. Like my suggestions in the post above about additional "meaning" attributable to this song, I think your suggestion, although interesting, cannot be strongly defended. After all there are many white rocks in Ireland. The denotations of the phrases "rocks of bawn" and "carraige baine" are the same, but in these cases, the connotations are quite different.

Amos, I don't know why I don't want to let this go--I guess there is some part of me that loves to split hairs with reasonable and thoughtful people. Yes, words--by means of our general agreement on their meaning--are a somewhat effective bridge across the chasms between us. (Although I must say that touch and body language are better!) But I think they are more slippery than we would like to believe. The word "bawn" (or ban, baine, or bán) is a handy example. I always took it to mean white (or fair-haired) but, as Antaine showed, it has a number of other meanings. Which meaning the original author was thinking of we can only guess at, but it leaves the meaning of the song open to various interpretations.

I might not be in the same search for "meanings" that Ian HP is, but I think there is something about this song that begs for deeper thought. Paddy Tunny said it was "one of the mighty Irish songs." Joe Heany thought it was a prime example of the tradition and sang it frequently. How does a song that meanders, is vague and sometimes confusing, get to be a classic? I think it somehow resonates with a deep part of the Irish psyche (and I know I might be blundering into a quaking bog here, not being Irish myself). It somehow touches the soul of the Irish people (or some of them).

How does it do that? What is it about this song that can make it so powerful?

David