Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear & Changing Your Demeanour

Subject: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demeneaour
From: GUEST,Davide Benini
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 12:15 PM

I'm looking for the lyrics of this two songs: 1)Mo ghile mear: I do have the gaelic lyrics; I'd like to find the english ones, the ones sung by Sting in "The long black veil" 2)Changing your demeneaour: it's a nice song composed by Kevin Conneff, and also included in "The long black veil" Thanks in advance Davide

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 12:35 PM

Are these the words you're looking for?

Grief and pain are all I know
My heart is sore, my tears will flow.
We saw him go, how would we know
No word we know of him a'home.

A proud and gallant chevalier
A highborn skald of gentle mien
A fiery blade engaged to lead
He'll break the bravest in the field.

We'll sing his praise, as sweet harps play
And proud we trust, his noble fame.
We'll spare no time with mind afraid
So wish him strength and length of deeds.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Roddy
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 02:09 PM

There are no English words to this song. There is a rendering which you have quoted, but few would count it as anything but a fabrication. Words like "skald" and "mien" are extremely rare in Irish folksong in English. However, please yourself, so long as you know that the English words are not traditional. Roddy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,emily rain at the U Dub
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 02:14 PM

Roddy, your tone is unnecessary here. Davide specifically asked for the words that Sting sang, and that's all Áine has claimed to provide.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 02:47 PM

Dear Roddy,

I know perfectly well that the lyrics I provided are not a correct translation of this song, whichever version you might want to quote. However, I was trying to comply with Davide's request for the words that Sting sang on the Chieftains' CD. I think I can understand how these particular lyrics can put one's nose out of joint, if one appreciates the beauty of the song in Irish. I am assuming, however, that Davide wants to do a cover version of the song on the Chieftains' CD.

I look at it this way, Roddy. If hearing Davide's cover of this song sparks an interest in just one person to study and use the Irish language, then more power to him!

Slán go fóill, Áine

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Roddy
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 08:34 PM

a Áine, a chroí, but it won't ! If he was interested in learning Irish - and why should he be? - he would have asked for a guide to pronunciation, or lessons. In any case the request was couched in terms that assumed that there were traditional English lyrics. I merely pointed out that there weren't. And my last remark suggested that he do whatever pleased him so long as he knew that Sting's words were concocted. I don't see anything wrong with that. Roddy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 08:56 PM

A Roddy, a chara chóir,

Gabh mo leithscéal, le do thoil. Chreid mé go raibh tú ag labhairt liom nuair a dúirt tú 'please yourself.' Níor aithin mé go raibh tú ag labhairt le Davide. Ach, creidim go dtugann an cheol mórán daoine don Ghaeilge, nach gcreideann tusa é?

Le meas, Áine

Subject: Lyr Add: CHANGE IN YOUR DEMEANOR^^
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 10:21 PM

I love that version of Mo Ghile Mear, regardless of whether it is faithful to the Jacobite song or not.

CHANGE IN YOUR DEMEANOR
Words and music by Kevin Conneff

Here we are, we come to call,
the pipes and flutes and fiddles and all.
In case of death we even brought a keener.
So if you're glum and feeling down,
just be like us and act the clown
and soon there'll be a change in your demeanor.

(scat sing)
Rum tum dee doo-dle doe,
hub-a-dee die dee doo-dle do,
Rum tum dee doo-dle doe dee doo dum.
Rum tum dee doo-dle doe,
hub-a-dee die dee doo-dle do,
Rum tum dee doo-dle doe dee doo dum.

I put me money on a horse today
For with the race he'd run away
Or so a friend who's in and knows he told me
Twenty lengths ahead at most
He proudly cantered past the post.
But woe is me, he lost the blooming jockey

Now all the places I have seen
From China to the Caribbean
Are all across the goal compared to Ireland.
From Bally Castle to Traline
The Corrib to the Liffey
There's nowhere else on earth quite like this Island

In Hollywood I long to be,
Not on that place across the sea,
But in County Wicklow, Ireland's lovely garden,
Where no pretenders will you find
But decent people roamin' and
The fox and friendly sheep into the bargain.

For your ills don't take a pill
But take a tender o'er the hills,
And listen to the lark's lovely warning
In the evening in the company
With music in the key of E
You'll be dancing Kerry sets until the morning.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Davide
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 03:27 PM

Thanks to everybody. Well, actually I imagined that the words sung by Sting were only a "fabrication". I know a little about Irish pronunciation and spelling, but I wanted to know the English lyrics because, even if I study English, I had not been able to write them down listening to the song. I completely agree with the fact that the song should be sung in Irish but, since Chieftains' version is the only one I owns, it's difficult to me to pronounce the Irish lyrics only by reading them. Thanks once again. PS: Aine, could you translate yor last posting in english? Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 03:50 PM

Dear Davide,

Good luck with your English studies. My last post was just a message to Roddy apologizing for a misunderstanding. And I also expressed my opinion that music leads many people to study the Irish language. I'm glad that we were able to help you with the lyrics and I hope that we can assist you again in the future.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Neil Comer
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 04:55 PM

Glacaim leis an phointe a luaigh Áine go n-osclaíonn amhráin as Gaeilge doras de chineál éigin. Chomh maith leis sin, tuigim gur chóir bheith dílis do chiall an amhráin.

I accept Áine's point that Irish Language songs open a doorway to Irish. At the same time, it is vital that the meaning of the song is clear

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Big Mick
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 05:47 PM

One more thing. There is a "Long Black Veil" songbook available. If you don't have a source, go to www.elderly.com and you can order it there.

all the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Eddie
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 08:16 PM

Neil, Why the contribution in Irish if you translate it into English? Are there any Irish speakers in the world who do not also speak English? this smacks of tautology at best and waste of time at worst. Eddie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 08:21 PM

Well Eddie, there are people in the world who speak English, yet do not speak Irish.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Grubby
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 01:17 AM

Seamus Begley the magnificent box player does a beautiful rendition of this particular song. What would be the phonetic pronunciation of the name please Regards Grubby

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 08:07 AM

Dear Grubby,

I assume that you're asking for the pronounication of 'Mo Ghile Mear' . . . moh yihla mahr . . . But then, I speak with a Donegal accent, so there might be others here with a different pronounication.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Neil Comer
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 11:41 AM

Eddie, I contribute in Irish because I want to. I translate into English for those people who do not understand Irish. If tautology helps me to avoid being rude, so be it. I never waste my time, so i'll sign off.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,Skarpi Iceland
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 08:43 AM

Dear Davide B, Áine. I need to get the lyric of Mo Ghile Mear in gealic. Can you give it to me.? All the best Skarpi Iceland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Wolfgang
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 08:53 AM

Skarpi, the lyrics have been posted in Mudcat: click here.

Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: MO GHILE MEAR
From: Áine
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 09:41 AM

Dear skarpi,

Here's the version I learned from my friend, Jim Flanagan.

-- Áine

MO GHILE MEAR

Seal go rabhas im' mhaighdean shéimh
Anois im bhaintreach chaite thréith
Mo chéile a' treabhadh na dtonn go tréan
De bharr na gcnoc 's in imigéin.

Curfá:
'Sé mo laoch mo ghile mear
'Sé mo Shaesar gile mear
Suan ná séan ní bhfuaireas féin
Ó luadh i gcein mo ghile mear.

Bimse buan ar buairt gach ló
Ag caoi go crua 's ag tuar na ndeor
Ó scaoileadh uainn an buachaill beo
'S ná ríomhtar tuairisc uaidh mo bhrón.

Curfá

Ní haoibhinn cuach ba shuairc ar neoin
Táid fiorchaoin uaisle ar uathadh spóirt
Táid saoithe is suadha i mbuairt 's i mbrón
Ó d'imigh uainn an buachaill beo.

Curfá

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: GUEST,skarpi Iceland
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 11:11 AM

dear Áine, thank you for this . All the best Skarpi Iceland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo ghile mear & Changin' your demene
From: Áine
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 11:41 AM

A skarpi, tá fáilte romhat, a chara chóir.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear & Changing Your Demeanour
From: GUEST,Crispin Miller
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 10:44 PM

Dear Aine,

(About presenting stanzas of Mo Ghile Mear in English) I'd like to applaud your gracious but resolute tone in the face of some kind of intemperate responses. I for one have been moved by the Chieftains' cut of Mo Ghile Mear to take a lot more interest in Gaelic than I ever had before, starting with at least memorizing and understanding the chorus but also getting interested in looking for recognizable relationships to other languages I know anything about (English, Scandinavian, etc).

And the three stanzas Sting sings on that cut are, of course, only three out of the six there seem to be in the original, and are, of course, translated liberally in order to rhyme and scan in English. But I really can't see that they're such a disservice to the original. If I compare them to literal (and therefore unsingable) translations (such as that offered at http://ingeb.org/songs/moghilem.html), the stanzas are completely identifiable and I don't find the poetic meaning to be any different.

However, I do have an alternative transcription to offer which I think is more accurate here and there. It's not by me -- it's from

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=875857

which I found by googling on the translator the Chieftains credit, named Sean MacReamoinn. I guess that that posting either has access to a printed copy of the lyrics (which would be my bet) or else was done by someone with a more lucky ear than most -- to me it agrees well with a careful listen, and by the way, the other four or five sites on the same googling don't. But even the person who posts it also carps about its supposed lack of faithfulness to the Gaelic, calling it "a different work altogether" which again I think is tripe.

It turns out to include a couple of expressions left as Gaelic, which your transcriber didn't suspect and consequently (I would say) forced some English syllables to fit. The three stanzas used are:

Grief and pain are all I know
My heart is sore, my tears aflow
We saw him go our buachaill beo
No word we know of him, ochon.

Chorus

A proud and gallant chevalier
A high born scion of gentle mien
A fiery blade engaged to lead
He'd break the bravest in the field

Chorus

Then we'll sing his praise as sweet harps play
And proudly toast his noble frame
With spirit and with mind aflame
So wish him strength and length of days

Chorus

-- And then for something a bit different, in the other Chieftains song in this thread (Changing Your Demeanour), I haven't made a careful study but I do notice one word I hear differently,

But woe is me, he TOSSED the blooming jockey.

thanks --

Crispin Miller

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear & Changing Your Demeanour
From: michaelr
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 11:41 PM

Thanks for that addition, Crispin.