Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear (from Sting)

Subject: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: GUEST,Adolfo
Date: 14 May 01 - 05:24 AM

Greetings. Somehow, it seems impossible to find the lyrics Sting sings in The Chieftains' The Long Black Veil. I can get the words in Gaelic or the translation into English, but not the exact words by Sting (or whoever did the work). Can you help me with them? Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: Wolfgang
Date: 14 May 01 - 06:06 AM

look here at a Sting page (they are well hidden there, but findable.

Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: MO GHILE MEAR / OUR HERO (sung by Sting)
From: Noreen
Date: 14 May 01 - 06:50 AM

I found another version here (click) but the one Wolfgang found is more complete and accurate. Here it is (in case the link disappears):

MO GHILE MEAR (Our Hero)

Traditional; arr.: Paddy Moloney
English lyric translations by Sean MacReamoinn

'Se/ mo laoch, mo Ghile Mear
'Se/ mo Chaesar Gile Mear
Suan na/ se/an ni/ bhfuaireas fe/in
O/ chuaigh i gce/in mo Ghile Mear

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

'Se/ mo laoch, mo Ghile Mear
'Se/ mo Chaesar Gile Mear
Suan na/ se/an ni/ bhfuaireas fe/in
O/ chuaigh i gce/in mo Ghile Mear

A proud and gallant chevalier
A high man's scion of gentle mean
A fiery blade engaged to reap
He'd break the bravest in the field

'Se/ mo laoch, mo Ghile Mear
'Se/ mo Chaesar Gile Mear
Suan na/ se/an ni/ bhfuaireas fe/in
O/ chuaigh i gce/in mo Ghile Mear

Come 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 day

'Se/ mo laoch, mo Ghile Mear
'Se/ mo Chaesar Gile Mear
Suan na/ se/an ni/ bhfuaireas fe/in
O/ chuaigh i gce/in mo Ghile Mear

The Chieftains: Long Black Veil (c) 1995 RCA

Performed by The Chieftains with Sting

1995

(Note: The chorus of the song is sung in Gaelic while the rest is sung in English. The Gaelic lyrics are accurate, but the English lyrics are currently incomplete and conjectural.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: Noreen
Date: 14 May 01 - 07:06 AM

(Forgot to put 'Lyr Add' in the post above- but it needs some cleaning up anyway.)

Suggestions :

1st verse : My tears will flow
We saw him go... (a buchaill beo?)
2nd verse : A high born scion of gentle mien
3rd verse : And proudly toast his noble fame

Any comments from anyone?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 14 May 01 - 10:44 AM

I believe that 'Mo Ghile Mear' is an Irish Jacobite song but may have been written quite some time after the 'forty five'(1745 Rebellion) in Scotland. I have also seen versions entitled 'Mo Ghiolla Mear' which would have a somewhat different translation. In my youth I knew an old lady who called all children 'A Ghillín', which I think was similar to 'my pet' or 'my darling'. I hope that you won't confine yourself to Sting's version of this great song, Adolfo; estimable though it be, there are many better recordings available in sean nós and more modern styles. Of the latter I like Mary Black's version best.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: Noreen
Date: 14 May 01 - 03:09 PM

The DT has the full Gaelic version with English translation : Mo Ghile Mear

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 14 May 01 - 07:08 PM

Noreen, The DT version is really messed up. This happens because there are a few ways to form the codes for accented letters and sometimes they don't shoe up the way they were written. For instance an accented e is shown as an i, so "shéimh" becomes "shiimh"

I've e-mailed Dick about this needed correction, as well as writing of it in threads. So it's annoying to see that the DT text has still not been corrected. And people copy from one website to another and the errors are perpetuated.

There are several other threads about versions of this song, giving lots of lyrics.
Altan version(sic) lots of verses and abc/midi
Jacobite connection
Sting version
thread with lots of links, Mudcat and other

Subject: RE: Mo Ghille Mear
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 14 May 01 - 07:12 PM

I see I didn;t do my first link correctly, the one with lots of lyrics and midi.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sting's Mo Ghile Mear
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 14 May 01 - 09:04 PM

As Philippa says, copying-and-pasting accents may sometimes appear to work to begin with, but it may not last or work with different browsers.   The only safe way is to use the proper html codes.  Numerical codes seem on the whole to be less reliable than the basic stuff: é for é, è for è,and so on.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear (from Sting)
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 06:55 PM

Mo Ghiolla Mear (Our Hero)

Chorus
'Sé mo laoch, mo Ghiolla Mear
'Sé mo Chaesar, Giolla Mear
Suan ná séan ní bhfuaireas féin
Ó chuaigh i gcéin mo Ghiolla Mear

Grief and pain are all I know
My heart is sore
My tears do flow
We saw him go our buachaill beo
No word we know of him ochone

Chorus

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

Chorus

Come 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

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear (from Sting)
From: GUEST,Roderick A Warner
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 06:28 AM

Another version from one of my favourite singers, Len Graham...

Len Graham

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mo Ghile Mear (from Sting)
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 11:01 AM

this video, with singing by university students, is quite beautiful:

dublin