Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora

Subject: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 08 Mar 17 - 09:40 PM

Irish song request, unknown name, only have a couple of verses, sorry about the silly rhyme; couldn't help myself...

  It was many and many a year ago, in a pub down by the sea.
  'Sé 'Droignean Donn' an t-ainm bhí air, is ann a bhí amhránaí.
  I had it on cassette tape, old fashioned though it be,
  But the tape wore out, without a doubt, and died eventually.
  
  It had a song, a few stanzas long, as Gaeilge it was sung.
  That song with great nostalgia in my memory has rung.
  The singer's name I do not know, but his voice I still recall.
  Some words are in my memory yet; I never knew them all.
  
  An bhfuil a fhios ag éinne -- Does anybody know?
  A song that went somewhat like this, that I have writ below:
  
  
  Is breathnaím amach thrí na fuinneoga móra seo,
  Is feicim an taoide ag tuilleadh sa trath,
  Na carraigreacha loma ag lonradh faoin ngrian gheall,
  Na faoileáin ina mílte <and some words i don't know>.
  
  Nuair a chloisim an callán na n-inneall im' thimpeall,
  'S iad ag gíoscán is ag fuaimniú is ag torann gan scith,
  'Sea smaoinímse siar ar laethanta m' óige,
  Ar an maidin go gleoite a d'fhág mé i m'dhiaidh.
  
  which translates (approximately) to this:
  
  I'm gazing outside thru these great picture windows
  Admiring the ocean and the tide on the shore,
  The rocks on the shoreline reflecting the sunlight
  And seagulls by the thousands <I don't know these words>.
  
  When I notice the noise of the engines all 'round me
  all the creaking and humming with an unceasing din,
  I ponder again the days I was younger,
  And the morning so enchanting that I left behind.
  
  I'll put down the melody, as best i can recall it:
  
  X:1
  M:3/4
  K:C
  D | E E F | G G A | _B _B c | d3 | c3 | z2
  c | c c d | c c (G/A/) | _B<_B A | G3 | z2
  c | d/d/ c c | c G> A | _B G F | G C2 | z2
  z/D/ | E G G/G/ | A G z/E/ | F E D | C3 z2
  
  E/F/ | G G A | _B _B c | d c c | G c2 | z2
  c/c/ | c c c/d/ | c c G/A/ | _B<_B A | G3 | z2
  c | d c c | c2 (G/A/) | _B G F | G3 | C3 | z2
  C/D/ | E G G | A G E | F D B, | C3 ||
  

This was in Spiddal in the 1980s, and i suppose the singer was local.
Can anybody identify the song, maybe the writer, or anything?

Thanks.
Lynn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 12:36 PM

Nice tune, but for those who need to read the notes (say using the abc converter) it needs to have X:1 put at the top. Sorry I can't help with the words.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 03:39 PM

X:1 -- so true.

I always have to go read the spec to remember how to get these things thru a converter. :-(

---

"X:1" added....but I can't find an online ABC converter that will play this. -Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: michaelr
Date: 10 Mar 17 - 03:17 PM

refresh - Felipa or Martin Ryan??

Subject: RE: breathnaim amach tri na fuinneoga mora
From: Felipa
Date: 10 Mar 17 - 06:27 PM

I suppose you mean the pub was called An Droighnean Donn, because those aren't the lyrics to An Droighnean Donn.

should be "trí na fuinneoga..." and "Nuair a chloisim callán na n-inneall"

but I can't listen to the air and I don't recognise the lyrics though I'm reminded of a Sean O hÉiniú song with words "siar ar m'oige, siar ar na laethe a bhí"

Have you tried posting on an Irish language forum?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Mar 17 - 01:08 AM

You could try asking @RosNaRun on Twitter - the TG4 soap Ros na Rún is based in Casla and there should be lots of people from Spiddal involved in it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 11 Mar 17 - 06:13 PM

I don't recognise the verses but will make some enquiries. It has a whiff of modern nostalgia about it ...

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Helen
Date: 12 Mar 17 - 02:08 PM

Hi Lynn,

I only know how to use an ABC converter, so I don't know how to read ABC notation, but what do the "_" and the "z" signify in the ABC you submitted?

e.g. _B<_B A | G3 | z2

I compared your notation to a sample from this site and I don't see those characters in the sample:

Si Bheag Si Mhor

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 15 Mar 17 - 06:29 PM

Helen,

The "_B" means a Bb, and the "z" means a rest.. so the portion in your message comes out to be eighth-note Bb followed by dotted quarter Bb, quarter note A, dotted half G, and two beats of rest in between lines.

To use an ABC converter, you need to add a line of "X:1" at the beginning (as pointed out by Leeneia), and possibly a line of "L:1/8". Let me see if i can get this in shape for an actual converter, and post the link. (I was out for a couple of days, and need to go out of town this evening, but i'll get caught up eventually.)

Lynn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 15 Mar 17 - 06:39 PM

Felipa,

Right you are. Probably what i thought i remembered as "cloisim an callan" was just a rhythmic pause and a faulty knowledge of the language. I'm not as sure about "tri" or "thri", dialectically speaking, but i'll happily go with the standard.

And if i haven't made any more mistakes than that, i'm flabbergasted!


Joe Offer,

I didn't know the original post could be edited; is that something i have the capability for?

Lynn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Helen
Date: 15 Mar 17 - 06:40 PM

Thanks Lynn,

As I said above, I'm not a wiz at ABC and I didn't recognise those two notations.

Also, I wanted to keep the thread going by talking waffle until someone more knowledgeable than me drops in and helps out. That strategy sometimes works. LOL

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 16 Mar 17 - 10:42 PM

Here's a revised ABC, which i successfully ran thru the converter at:

http://mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php

(The previous version had acquired a space at the beginning of each line, and the converter had problems with that.)

X:1
L:1/4
M:3/4
K:C
D | E E F | G G A | _B _B c | d3 | c3 | z2
c | c c d | c c (G/A/) | _B<_B A | G3 | z2
c | d/d/ c c | c G> A | _B G F | G C2 | z2
z/D/ | E G G/G/ | A G z/E/ | F E D | C3 z2

E/F/ | G G A | _B _B c | d c c | G c2 | z2
c/c/ | c c c/d/ | c c G/A/ | _B<_B A | G3 | z2
c | d c c | c2 (G/A/) | _B G F | G3 | C3 | z2
C/D/ | E G G | A G E | F D B, | C3 ||


Corrected lyrics (the 2 verses i sort of remember), with thanks to Felipa:

Is breathnaím amach trí na fuinneoga móra seo,
Is feicim an taoide ag tuilleadh sa trath,
Na carraigreacha loma ag lonradh faoin ngrian gheall,
Na faoileáin ina mílte .

Nuair a chloisim callán na n-inneall im' thimpeall,
'S iad ag gíoscán is ag fuaimniú is ag torann gan scith,
'Sea smaoinímse siar ar laethanta m' óige,
Ar an maidin go gleoite a d'fhág mé i m'dhiaidh.

(These are only approximate lyrics.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Helen
Date: 17 Mar 17 - 12:05 AM

Thanks Lynn,

I guessed it would be something simple and I didn't even see those spaces at the beginning of each line.

The third and fourth lines of the melody remind me of a tune, but I'll have to have a bit of a think about it.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Helen
Date: 17 Mar 17 - 02:15 AM

A song which the tune brings to my mind is Aragon Mill. It's not the same song, but the tune is tickling my brain cells about a protest song about industrial issues or environmental issues, or something like that.

More thinking required. It's the end of the third line of the tune which is almost forming itself into words.

What I'm thinking is that if I can identify the tune/song in my head it might provide a link to doing a search online. Maybe the song you have posted, Lynn, relates to this elusive song which is fluttering around just out of reach of my conscious thoughts.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Helen
Date: 17 Mar 17 - 02:50 AM

Finally, my brain decided to behave itself and give me a clue.

The Chieftains: Green Fields of America

As I said before, I don't think this is the same tune, but the last phrase of the third line of the tune posted by Lynn reminds me of the same part of this tune, especially in the verse which starts:

"So pack up your sea stores now, consider it no longer
Ten dollars a week isn't very bad pay..."

I may be just muddying the waters. I don't know.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 03 Apr 17 - 10:46 PM

Helen, that's a very nice tune, and far more sophisticated in the melody and ornamentation than the tune i remember for my 'lost' song. It was a pleasure to listen to the youtube recording. I never realized the Chieftains were so into sean nos. I don't think there's any connection, but darn, maybe i was missing out by not paying much attention to the Chieftains!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: Helen
Date: 04 Apr 17 - 03:47 PM

Hi Lynn,

No, I don't think there is a connection but if it introduced you to The Chieftains I'm a happy woman.

I'm not sure how much sean nos they have done, but I'm guessing not a lot from what I've heard. They are still well worth a listen.

This one just popped into my head:

When a man's in love-The Chieftains

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: breathnaim amach thri na fuinneoga mora
From: GUEST,Lynn
Date: 13 Oct 18 - 11:58 PM

I keep meaning to mention that i found this song. It's about the báidín beag gleoite that he remembers from his youth. Well, sort of. It's actually more about changing times, and a way of life now vanished. Thanks to a tip on this thread, i asked on an Irish list, and there was a reader who recognized the words.

The song is called 'Cumha', by Pádraig O hÁoláin & Martina Goggin; it's on an album called 'Gaelcheol Tíre Phleearáca Chonamara'. It's a varied collection of live performance containing country-western, blues, gospel, & trad -- maybe more that i've forgotten. (It was funny to hear country-western done in Irish with an Irish flavor to the instrumentation, but it's for real.) The CD is out of print, but it's available as MP3 from cic.ie: https://www.cic.ie/en/music/mp3/gaelcheol-tire-phlearaca-chonamara-mp3

Bain sult as!