Lyr Add: Tha Mo Run air a' Ghille Gaelic lovesong

Subject: Lyr Add: Tha Mo Run air a' Ghille Gaelic lovesong
From: Felipa
Date: 20 Oct 22 - 06:33 PM

posting this song now as we approach Hallowe'en as the first line is
Oidhche Shamhna dhomh 's mi m'ònar (Hallowe'en night, the eve of Nov., I was on my own)

sound clip and a link to sheet music are at http://beatoninstitutemusic.ca/gaelic/tha-mo-run-air-a-ghille/
"The singer is Sandy Campbell. The song is a variant of an older song which is published in An t-Òranaiche (p. 209-10).

‘Tha Mo Rùn Air A’ Ghille’, 1973. Sandy Campbell. T-642. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University."

THA MO RÚN AIR A' GHILLE

Sèist
Tha mo rùn air a’ ghille,
‘S mòr mo shunnd ri thu thilleadh;
‘S mi gu siùbhladh leat am fireach
Fo shileadh nam fuarbheann.

1. Oidhche Shamhna ghabhas mi òran,
Nam b’aite leam dhèanainn òran;
‘S truagh a Righ nach mi bha pòsd’
Aig òigear a’ chùil dualaich.

2. Tha do chàirdean rium ag ràitinn
Gu bheil mi ‘m bleid an droch nàdair;
B’fheàrr leam gu faicinn thu màireach,
‘S mo mhànran ri d’ ghuallainn.

3. Thug thu falt mo chinn gu talamh,
Chuir thu mo ghruaidh dhearg an tainead;
‘S truagh nach mise bha ‘s an anart
Mun do ghabh mi luaidh ort.

4. ‘S math as aithne dhomh do shloinneadh,
A Chloinn ???? ‘s do Chloinn Choinnich,
Dòmhnallaich a’ bhroillich shoilleir,
Sheasadh ri là cruadail.

5. (Verse 3 repeated)

6. Tha thu laghach ‘s tha thu bòidheach,
‘S math a ghabhas tu na h-òrain;
‘S truagh a Righ nach mì bha pòst’
Aig òigear a’ chùil dualaich.

7. Dh’fhalbh mo phiuthar, dh’fhalbh mo bhràthair,
Dh’fhalbh mo chinneadh, dh’fhalbh mo chàirdean;
Ach ‘s tusa ‘m fear a tha mi ‘g ràitinn
Gun do chnàmh thu ghruag dhiom.

Translation:
I Love the Young Man

Chorus
I love the young man,
I long for your return;
I would travel the moorland with you
Under the rain of the high hills.

1. I’ll sing my song on Halloween;
If I could I would compose one;
It’s a pity that I am not married
To the youth with the curly hair.

2. Your friends are telling me
That I am bad-natured;
I wish I could see you tomorrow,
Dallying by your side.

3. You brought my hair to the ground,
You made my rosy cheeks thin;
Pity that I wasn’t in the shroud
Before I fell in love with you.

4. I know your lineage well:
Clan ???? and Clan MacKenzie,
MacDonalds of the bright chests
Who would endure a day of hardship.

5. (Verse 3 repeated)

6. You are nice and you are beautiful;
You are a fine singer of songs;
It’s a pity that I was not married
To the youth with the curly hair.

7. My sister has departed, and my brother,
My relatives, and my friends;
But you are the one, I am saying,
Who caused my hair to fade away.

see also the version sung by Mary Jane Lamond
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/lamond/tha.htm

https://maryjanelamond.ca/tha-mo-run-air-aghille-i-love-the-lad/

Traces of “I Love the Lad,” popular and frequently
sung throughout Cape Breton, date back to the latter
part of the seventeenth century in a song compossed by
Nighean Tighearna Ghrannd for the famous bard and cattle
raider Dòmhnall Donn (Donald MacDonald) of Bohuntin,
Lochaber. This song is a powerful description of a
woman’s despair at losing her lover.

THA MO RÚN AIR A' GHILLE

Chorus/Seisd:
Tha mo rùn air a’ ghille
‘S mór mo dhùil ri thu thilleadh
‘S mi gu siubhladh leat am fireach
Fo shileadh nam fuar-bheann

Oidhche Shamhna dhomh ‘s mi m’ònar
Smaointich mi gun dianainn òran
‘S truagh a Rìgh nach mi bha pòsd’
Ri òigear a’ chùil dualaich

Gura h-e mo ghaol an t-òigear
A’ chùil duinn ‘s a’ leadain bhòidhich
‘S mi gu siubhladh leat far m’eòlais
Ged tha an còta ruadh ort

Chuir thu falt mo chinn gu talamh
Chuir thu mo ghruaidh dhearg an tainead
‘S truagh nach robh mise ‘s an anart
Mun deachaidh mo luaidh riut

Ged tha blàth na bric’ air d’aodann
Cha do lughdaich e mo ghaol ort
‘S mi gu siubhladh leat a’ saoghal
Nan saoilinn-se do bhuannachd

Phòsainn thu dh’aindeòin mo chàirdean
Gun toil m’athar, no mo mhàthar
Eachann saor a tha mi ‘g ràitinn
Bhon ‘s e chnàmh a’ ghruag dhiom

Tha mi nochd a’ dol a laighidh
‘S cinnteach leam gum faic mi aisling
Thu bhi sìnte ann ‘am leabaidh
Tacan air a’ chluasaig

TRANSLATION
I LOVE THE LAD

Chorus
I love the lad. Great is my hope for you to return. I
would travel the moorland with you under the drip of the
cold mountains

Alone on Halloween night, I thought I
would compose a song. Its a pity I wasn’t married to the
youth with the curled hair.

The young man of the brown hair and
lovely tresses is my darling, I would fare with you to
unknown places, even though you wear the redcoat.

You sent the hair of my head to the
ground. You made my red cheeks thin. Its a pity that I
wasn’t in the death shroud before I fell in love with
you.

Although your face is scarred by
smallpox, it didn’t lessen my love for you. I would
travel the world with you, if I thought I could win you
over.

I would wed you in spite of my kin,
without consent form my father or my mother.

I give his name, Hector the carpenter,
since its he who has caused the hair to wear from my
head.

Tonight, as I go to rest, its certain
I will see a vision. You will lay in my bed for awhile
on the pillow.

and there is a song with some similarities called "Air a' ghille tha mo rùn" (I think this is the song in An t-Òranaiche mentioned by the Beaton Institute, although it is on page 145 in this edition:
https://archive.org/details/gaelicsongsterto00sincuoft/page/144/mode/2up

https://usmod.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/story-behind-the-song-tha-mo-run-air-a-ghille/

https://archive.org/details/gaelicsongsterto00sincuoft/page/144/mode/2up

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tha Mo Run air a' Ghille Gaelic lovesong
From: Felipa
Date: 20 Oct 22 - 06:59 PM

as sung by Mary Jane Lamond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U3OYYgWnYI:

Oidhche Shamhna dhomh 's mi m'ònar         
Smaointich mi gun dianainn òran
'S truagh a Rìgh nach mi bha pòsd'         
Ri òigear a' chùil dualaich

(Alone on Halloween night
I thought I would compose a song
It's a pity I wasn't married
To the youth with the curly hair)

Anna Murray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wzCYz3OVx0 sings instead about a summer night; it would be easy to sing "oidhche shamhna instead of oidhche shamhraidh!

Oidhche shamhraidh dhomh 's mi'm ònar         
Air mo ghaol sa ni mì òran         
'S truagh a rìgh, nach robh mi pòsd         
Aig òigear a' chùil dualaich

(Alone on a summer night
I will make a song about my love
It's a pity I wasn't married
to the youth with the curly hair)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tha Mo Run air a' Ghille Gaelic lovesong
From: Felipa
Date: 29 Oct 22 - 05:20 PM

refreshing in time for Oidhche Shamhna

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tha Mo Run air a' Ghille Gaelic lovesong
From: robomatic
Date: 29 Oct 22 - 05:28 PM

Thank you for taking the detailed task of laying out this song by its lyrics and its meaning. When I was bicycling through Ireland I stopped at the Letterkenny folk festival and did my best to learn "Teir Abhaile Rue" and these Gaelic words and phrases instantly connects to a folk and a past combination of beliefs and practices and awareness of life's essentials. An awarenss of even a few of these songs strips away a lot of the distracting overlay that more recent entertainment has introduced.