Lyr Add: An Leanbh Aimhreidh (The Troubled Child)

Subject: Lyr Add: An Leanbh Aimhreidh (The Troubled Child)
From: GUEST,Rory
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 05:36 AM

An Leanbh Aimhréidh
(The Troubled Child)

A lullaby about a baby who crys while his cradle is not rocked by his nurse.

A version of the song collected from oral tradition by Irish scholar Patrick Lynch in Mayo in June 1802, for Edward Bunting's Collection, in which none of Lynch's two hundred collected and translated songs were ever published by Bunting.

Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic transcription in:
The Edward Bunting Collection in Special Collections & Archives, Queen's University Belfast
MS 4/21 Manuscript collection of Irish songs in Gaelic and some English prose translations by Patrick Lynch
4.21 f2v
Not as yet available to view


Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic fair copy (neatly re-written):
MS 4/10 Manuscript collection of Irish songs in Gaelic by Patrick Lynch
MS 4.10.164, page 164, 1802

Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic fair copy: An Leanbh Aimhréidh


Chuaidh mé go tigh na banaltra
Le tuitim ceo na h-oídhche,
‘S ní raibh do chaoimhtheach leapa aici
Ach a leanbh bán a' caoineadh.

D’fhiafraigh mé don bhanaltra
Cad a bheir a leanbh síor-ghul;
'Sé dúbhairt sí go ma faisiun do
Bheith a' crónán an sa na-oídhche.

Codladh leis an bogadh dó
Sé ní mo leanbh aimhréidh
Codladh leis an bogadh dó
Sé ní mo leanbh aimhréidh

Ní mar sin dom leanbhsa
Do ré a néall a cholladh sé
Is mur mboga dadi a bhanaltra
Beidh a leanbh aimhréidh

Is maith an fear a mbaile mé
Níl dúil agum a mbíodáin
Is maith an fear a mbaile mé
Níl dúil agug a gcríochain

Nuair a éirighios fir a baile mach
A breathnamh air a n-díobháil
Fillim sa ar a mbhanaltra
Agus bogum dhi a cliabhán


A literal translation
(Verses 4 & 5 may need an alternative translation)

I went to the nurse's house,
With the fall of the mist of the night,
And she did not have a bed companion,
But her darling baby crying

I asked the nurse
What brings her child continually crying
She said it was my fashion (habit, manner)
To be humming in the night.

Sleep with the rocking for him
He's not my troubled baby
Sleep with the rocking for him
He's not my troubled baby

Not so for my baby
For the duration of his nap he slept
If only his nurse was rocking
Her baby will be troubled

I like the man at home
I do not like the gossip (slander, calumny)
I like the man at home
I do not wish to finish

When the men leave their home
To look at him hurt
I return to his nurse
And I rock his cradle

.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: An Leanbh Aimhreidh (The Troubled Child)
From: GUEST,Rory
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 05:47 AM

A lullaby recorded by Nuala Kennedy and Cathy Jordan in a musical performance titled HUSHEEN - Irish Songs For The Very Young, and Young at Heart!
To be collated for an album.

An Leanbh Aimhréidh
(scroll down to play song)


Chuaidh mé go tigh na banaltra
Le tuitim ceo na h-oíche,
‘S ní raibh do chaoimhtheach leapa aici
Ach a leanbh bán a' caoine.
D’fhiafraigh mé don bhanaltra
Goide ‘bheir ‘on leanbh siorghul;
‘Sé dúirt sí go mba faisean do
Bheith a' crónán ins an oiche.

Codladh leis an bogadh dó
Sé ní mo leanbh aimhréidh
Codladh leis an bogadh dó
Sé ní mo leanbh aimhréidh

The mother stood beside her gate,
On the fields the dew was lying,
No company had she so late
But her little baby crying.
I asked, “What ails the little one?
Why is he always fretting?”
She answered, “When the night draws on
He cries for want of petting.”

He's sleeping while I'm rocking him
That is my fretful baby
He's sleeping while I'm rocking him
That is my fretful baby



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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: An Leanbh Aimhreidh (The Troubled Child)
From: Felipa
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 12:40 PM

The clickable link above for Nuala Kennedy and Cathy Jordan isn't working because it includes an extra "br". It should be
https://soundcloud.com/nualakennedy/leanbh-aimhreidh

Sheet music from P.W. Joyce Old Irish Folk Music & Songs
https://www.itma.ie/digital-library/score/pw-joyce-old-irish-folk-music-562

Nodlaig Brolly sings, with additional accompaniament by Paul McSherry and Brendan Hendry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_pGopjsevw
The lyrics are almost the same as transcribed by Patrick Lynch. I think the delivery a bit fast for the subject, but maybe the stress of a fretful baby would accelerate the singer.
Codladh leanbh an bogadh dó/
'Sé ní mo leanbh aimhréidh (2x) is sung as a refrain.