Does anyone have lyrics for Amhran na Leabhar/Song of the Books, aka Valentia Harbour/Cuan Bheil Inse?
TIA,
Andrea
Lyrics for Amhran na Leabhar
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Cayden
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Roger O'Keeffe
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Cayden
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aderyn_du
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Roger, here is what I copied, pasted, and saved:
Go cuan Bheill fnse casadh me,
Cois Goilinn aoibhinn Dairbhre,
Mar a seoltar f lit na farraige
Thar saile i gcein
1 bPortmagee do stadas seal
Fe thuairim intinn maitheasa
Dlfhonn bheith sealad eadartha
Mar mhaistir leinn;
is gearr gur chuala an eachtra
Ag cach, mo lean!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do cailleadh, theas,
An t-~rthach trean.
Do phreab mo chridhe le hathtuirse
'Dtaoibh loinge an tfosaigh chalma,
mbIfearrde an tir f seasamh seal
Do raibh an tsein.
I think there are some odd letters in there, possibly due to a difference in keyboards when putting accents in... but I'm not good enough with Scottish Gaelic to separate the real letters from the odd ones.
Hopefully you can figure out what's supposed to be there!
All the best
,
Andrea ~*~
Go cuan Bheill fnse casadh me,
Cois Goilinn aoibhinn Dairbhre,
Mar a seoltar f lit na farraige
Thar saile i gcein
1 bPortmagee do stadas seal
Fe thuairim intinn maitheasa
Dlfhonn bheith sealad eadartha
Mar mhaistir leinn;
is gearr gur chuala an eachtra
Ag cach, mo lean!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do cailleadh, theas,
An t-~rthach trean.
Do phreab mo chridhe le hathtuirse
'Dtaoibh loinge an tfosaigh chalma,
mbIfearrde an tir f seasamh seal
Do raibh an tsein.
I think there are some odd letters in there, possibly due to a difference in keyboards when putting accents in... but I'm not good enough with Scottish Gaelic to separate the real letters from the odd ones.
Hopefully you can figure out what's supposed to be there! All the best
,Andrea ~*~
Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together. ~Anais Nin
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Cayden
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Roger O'Keeffe
- Posts: 2233
- Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2002 6:00 pm
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- Location: Back home in the Green and Musty Isle, in Dublin.
Thanks to you both, there are indeed some funny bits in there, but at least there are enough clues to the phrasing of the tune as an air on the pipes.
Any idea of roughly how old the Píobaire article is, Peter? Don't waste too much time rummaging around on my account, I might try Mudcat, at the risk of being drawn into silly arguments about Bush, Iraq and American gun culture!
And BTW, when is your solo album coming out
? I loved the sound of your clip on Clips'n Snips, so I won't ask for royalties if you title the putative album "The Narrow Bore"!
Any idea of roughly how old the Píobaire article is, Peter? Don't waste too much time rummaging around on my account, I might try Mudcat, at the risk of being drawn into silly arguments about Bush, Iraq and American gun culture!
And BTW, when is your solo album coming out
? I loved the sound of your clip on Clips'n Snips, so I won't ask for royalties if you title the putative album "The Narrow Bore"!An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
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Cayden
-
Roger O'Keeffe
- Posts: 2233
- Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: Back home in the Green and Musty Isle, in Dublin.
-
Roger O'Keeffe
- Posts: 2233
- Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: Back home in the Green and Musty Isle, in Dublin.
Succumbed to the temptation and checked it out on Mudcat where I found a thread at
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=13874
which included this post:
"A chairde,
After four hours of searching on the Net, I found the following information about 'Amhrán na Leabhair'. Unfortunately, I could only find the first verse of the song; but, I have ordered the CD by Tim Dennehy (mentioned below) and I will post the entire song when I receive it. All of this information I found on the IRTRAD-L bulletin board. Any misspellings or misinformation that may be contained in the following should be attributed to the original author(s). Everything enclosed between the double brackets [[ ]] is from the mentioned source. I have edited out the irrelevant stuff:
[[". . . Tim Dennehy recorded "Amhrán na Leabhar" on his fine album "Farewell to Miltown Malbay". The notes say:
"Words: Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin (1785-1848) "Music: trad. arr. Tim Dennehy. "Tomás Rua, schoolteacher and poet, had been transferred from Derrynane [on the south of the Iveragh peninsula] to Portmagee [opposite Valentia island on the north of the peninsula]. He placed his huge and valuable library of books - both printed and in manuscript form, all leather bound - and his clothes on a boat which was travelling from Derrynane Bay to Valentia Harbour. He himself travelled by road. Unfortunately the boat overturned near Carraig Eibhlín Ní Rathaille just outside Derrynane Bay and his priceless library was lost. 'Amhrán na Leabhar', also known as 'Cuan Bhéil Inse', was his poetic response and is probably his best known song which is also very popular with pipers as a slow air."
Note, incidentally, that the accident happened near the start of the journey, about 15 miles in a straight line south of Valentia Harbour and more than twice that distance in sea miles, with some great big lumps of mountains in between. So although "Valentia" occurs in the opening line of the song, the island itself has little to do with the story . . .
Go Cuan Bhéil Inse casadh mé
Cois Góilín aoibhinn Dairbhre
Mar a seoltar flít na farraige
Thar sáile i gcéin.
I Portmagee do stadas seal,
Faoi thuairim intinn maitheasa
D'fhonn bheith sealad eatarthu
Mar mháistir léinn.
Is gearr gur chuala an eachtara
Ag cách mo léan!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do chailleathas
An t-árthach tréan.
Do phreab mo chroí le hatuirse
I dtaobh loinge an taoisigh chalma
Go mb'fhearrde an tír í 'sheasamh seal
Do ráib an tséin."
A remarkable rhyming scheme. All five verses are printed in the CD insert. Here's my clumsy attempt at a literal translation of just the first one (above).
"To The Harbour at the Mouth of the Island [= Valentia Harbour]
I happened to go
By the beautiful inlet of Dairbhre [Oak Island, another name for Valentia]
Where the fleet of the sea is sailed abroad.
In Portmagee I stopped a while
For the purpose of intellectual work
Because of being amongst them for a time
As a teacher.
Soon the event was heard of
By all, alas!
That on Eoghan Finn's Table [?a rock or reef?] was lost
The mighty vessel.
My heart gasped with misery
Concerning the boat of the brave leader
That it was better for the country to have waited a while than to run the gale."
. . . Valentia (is) . . . a very interesting place indeed in many ways . . . . For example - it's the birthplace of the druid Mogh Roith, Servant of the Wheel, who beheaded John the Baptist; the source of the roof-slates on the British Houses of Parliament; and an American connection is that the privateer John Paul Jones often took shelter in Valentia Harbour or nearby Portmagee (named after a redoubtable 18th century female smuggler, incidentally) when his cruises brought him far into the Atlantic."]]
** It's Áine again – For you Americans who paid attention in history class and know who John Paul Jones was, it's true that he was a 'privateer' – something that I certainly wasn't taught in school. Look him up in the Encyclopedia and check it out – I certainly learned something new!
Slán go fóill, Áine"
A link on the same thread brings us this:
Go Cuan Bhéil Inse casadh mé
Cois Góilín aoibhinn Dairbhre
Mar a seoltar flít na farraige
Thar sáile i gcéin.
I Portmagee do stadas seal,
Faoi thuairim intinn maitheasa
D'fhonn bheith sealad eatarthu
Mar mháistir léinn.
Is gearr gur chuala an eachtara
Ag cách mo léan!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do chailleathas
An t-árthach tréan.
Do phreab mo chroí le hatuirse
I dtaobh loinge an taoisigh chalma
Go mb'fhearrde an tír í 'sheasamh seal
Do ráib an tséin.
Mo chiach, mo chumha is m’atuirse!
Mé im iarsma dubhach ag ainnise
Is mé síoraí ‘déanamh marana,
Ar mo chás bhocht féin!
Mo chuid éadaigh chumhdaigh scaipithe,
Bhí déanta cumtha, ceapaithe,
Is do thriaill thar thriúcha Banban
Mar bhláth faoi mo dhéin.
Iad bheith imithe san fharraige
Ar bharr an scéil,
Is a thuilleadh acu sa lasair
Is mé go támhach trém néal;
Ba thrua le cách ar maidin mé,
Go buartha, cásmhar, ceasnaithe,
Is an fuacht a chráigh im bhalla mé
Gan snáth ón spéir!
Ní hé sin is mó a chealg mé
Ná chráigh mé arís im aigne,
Ach nuair chínn féin fuadar fearthainne
Gach lá faoin spéir;
Neart gaoithe aduaidh is anaithe
Is síon rómhór gan aga ar bith,
Tinte luatha lasrach,
Is scáil na gcaor.
Chrom an uain ar shneachta ‘chur
Le gála tréan
Ar feadh deich n-uair gan amharca
Le fáil ar ghréin.
Na doitheanna cruadha peannaide
A líon rómhór den ghalar mé,
D’fhág suim gan suan ar leaba mé
Go tláth i bpéin!
Dá shiúlfainn Éire is Alba
An Fhrainc, an Spáinn is Sasana,
Agus fós arís dá n-abrainn
Gach aird faoin ré,
Ní bhfaighinnse an oiread leabhartha
B’fhearr eolas agus tairbhe
Ná is mó bhí chum mo mhaitheasa
Cé táid ar strae.
Mo chreach! mo chumha ina n-easnamh siúd
Do fágadh mé!
Is mór an cúrsa marana
Agus cás liom é
Mallacht Dé is na hEaglaise
Ar an gcarraig ghránna mhallaithe,
A bháigh an long gan anaithe
Gan ghála, gan ghaoth.
Bhí mórán Éireann leabhartha,
Nár áiríos dibh im labhartha,
Leabhar na Laighneach beannaithe
Ba bhreátha faoin spéir.
An ‘Feirmeoir’ álainn, gasta, deas,
A chuireadh a shíol go blasta ceart,
Thug ruachnoic fraoigh is aitinn ghlais
Go gealbhánta féir,
Scoirim as mo labhartha
Cé chrádar mé,
Is nó cuirfeadsa aon ní ar fharraige
Go brách lem ré;
Moladh le Rí an nAingeal ngeal,
Mo shláinte arís a chasadh orm,
Is an Fhoireann úd ón anaithe
Gan bá ‘theacht saor!
I infer from the words that the tune should indeed be played AABA.
_________________
An Pluiméir<marquee>Ceolmhar</marquee><br>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Roger O'Keeffe on 2002-10-29 10:54 ]</font>
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=13874
which included this post:
"A chairde,
After four hours of searching on the Net, I found the following information about 'Amhrán na Leabhair'. Unfortunately, I could only find the first verse of the song; but, I have ordered the CD by Tim Dennehy (mentioned below) and I will post the entire song when I receive it. All of this information I found on the IRTRAD-L bulletin board. Any misspellings or misinformation that may be contained in the following should be attributed to the original author(s). Everything enclosed between the double brackets [[ ]] is from the mentioned source. I have edited out the irrelevant stuff:
[[". . . Tim Dennehy recorded "Amhrán na Leabhar" on his fine album "Farewell to Miltown Malbay". The notes say:
"Words: Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin (1785-1848) "Music: trad. arr. Tim Dennehy. "Tomás Rua, schoolteacher and poet, had been transferred from Derrynane [on the south of the Iveragh peninsula] to Portmagee [opposite Valentia island on the north of the peninsula]. He placed his huge and valuable library of books - both printed and in manuscript form, all leather bound - and his clothes on a boat which was travelling from Derrynane Bay to Valentia Harbour. He himself travelled by road. Unfortunately the boat overturned near Carraig Eibhlín Ní Rathaille just outside Derrynane Bay and his priceless library was lost. 'Amhrán na Leabhar', also known as 'Cuan Bhéil Inse', was his poetic response and is probably his best known song which is also very popular with pipers as a slow air."
Note, incidentally, that the accident happened near the start of the journey, about 15 miles in a straight line south of Valentia Harbour and more than twice that distance in sea miles, with some great big lumps of mountains in between. So although "Valentia" occurs in the opening line of the song, the island itself has little to do with the story . . .
Go Cuan Bhéil Inse casadh mé
Cois Góilín aoibhinn Dairbhre
Mar a seoltar flít na farraige
Thar sáile i gcéin.
I Portmagee do stadas seal,
Faoi thuairim intinn maitheasa
D'fhonn bheith sealad eatarthu
Mar mháistir léinn.
Is gearr gur chuala an eachtara
Ag cách mo léan!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do chailleathas
An t-árthach tréan.
Do phreab mo chroí le hatuirse
I dtaobh loinge an taoisigh chalma
Go mb'fhearrde an tír í 'sheasamh seal
Do ráib an tséin."
A remarkable rhyming scheme. All five verses are printed in the CD insert. Here's my clumsy attempt at a literal translation of just the first one (above).
"To The Harbour at the Mouth of the Island [= Valentia Harbour]
I happened to go
By the beautiful inlet of Dairbhre [Oak Island, another name for Valentia]
Where the fleet of the sea is sailed abroad.
In Portmagee I stopped a while
For the purpose of intellectual work
Because of being amongst them for a time
As a teacher.
Soon the event was heard of
By all, alas!
That on Eoghan Finn's Table [?a rock or reef?] was lost
The mighty vessel.
My heart gasped with misery
Concerning the boat of the brave leader
That it was better for the country to have waited a while than to run the gale."
. . . Valentia (is) . . . a very interesting place indeed in many ways . . . . For example - it's the birthplace of the druid Mogh Roith, Servant of the Wheel, who beheaded John the Baptist; the source of the roof-slates on the British Houses of Parliament; and an American connection is that the privateer John Paul Jones often took shelter in Valentia Harbour or nearby Portmagee (named after a redoubtable 18th century female smuggler, incidentally) when his cruises brought him far into the Atlantic."]]
** It's Áine again – For you Americans who paid attention in history class and know who John Paul Jones was, it's true that he was a 'privateer' – something that I certainly wasn't taught in school. Look him up in the Encyclopedia and check it out – I certainly learned something new!
Slán go fóill, Áine"
A link on the same thread brings us this:
Go Cuan Bhéil Inse casadh mé
Cois Góilín aoibhinn Dairbhre
Mar a seoltar flít na farraige
Thar sáile i gcéin.
I Portmagee do stadas seal,
Faoi thuairim intinn maitheasa
D'fhonn bheith sealad eatarthu
Mar mháistir léinn.
Is gearr gur chuala an eachtara
Ag cách mo léan!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do chailleathas
An t-árthach tréan.
Do phreab mo chroí le hatuirse
I dtaobh loinge an taoisigh chalma
Go mb'fhearrde an tír í 'sheasamh seal
Do ráib an tséin.
Mo chiach, mo chumha is m’atuirse!
Mé im iarsma dubhach ag ainnise
Is mé síoraí ‘déanamh marana,
Ar mo chás bhocht féin!
Mo chuid éadaigh chumhdaigh scaipithe,
Bhí déanta cumtha, ceapaithe,
Is do thriaill thar thriúcha Banban
Mar bhláth faoi mo dhéin.
Iad bheith imithe san fharraige
Ar bharr an scéil,
Is a thuilleadh acu sa lasair
Is mé go támhach trém néal;
Ba thrua le cách ar maidin mé,
Go buartha, cásmhar, ceasnaithe,
Is an fuacht a chráigh im bhalla mé
Gan snáth ón spéir!
Ní hé sin is mó a chealg mé
Ná chráigh mé arís im aigne,
Ach nuair chínn féin fuadar fearthainne
Gach lá faoin spéir;
Neart gaoithe aduaidh is anaithe
Is síon rómhór gan aga ar bith,
Tinte luatha lasrach,
Is scáil na gcaor.
Chrom an uain ar shneachta ‘chur
Le gála tréan
Ar feadh deich n-uair gan amharca
Le fáil ar ghréin.
Na doitheanna cruadha peannaide
A líon rómhór den ghalar mé,
D’fhág suim gan suan ar leaba mé
Go tláth i bpéin!
Dá shiúlfainn Éire is Alba
An Fhrainc, an Spáinn is Sasana,
Agus fós arís dá n-abrainn
Gach aird faoin ré,
Ní bhfaighinnse an oiread leabhartha
B’fhearr eolas agus tairbhe
Ná is mó bhí chum mo mhaitheasa
Cé táid ar strae.
Mo chreach! mo chumha ina n-easnamh siúd
Do fágadh mé!
Is mór an cúrsa marana
Agus cás liom é
Mallacht Dé is na hEaglaise
Ar an gcarraig ghránna mhallaithe,
A bháigh an long gan anaithe
Gan ghála, gan ghaoth.
Bhí mórán Éireann leabhartha,
Nár áiríos dibh im labhartha,
Leabhar na Laighneach beannaithe
Ba bhreátha faoin spéir.
An ‘Feirmeoir’ álainn, gasta, deas,
A chuireadh a shíol go blasta ceart,
Thug ruachnoic fraoigh is aitinn ghlais
Go gealbhánta féir,
Scoirim as mo labhartha
Cé chrádar mé,
Is nó cuirfeadsa aon ní ar fharraige
Go brách lem ré;
Moladh le Rí an nAingeal ngeal,
Mo shláinte arís a chasadh orm,
Is an Fhoireann úd ón anaithe
Gan bá ‘theacht saor!
I infer from the words that the tune should indeed be played AABA.
_________________
An Pluiméir<marquee>Ceolmhar</marquee><br>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Roger O'Keeffe on 2002-10-29 10:54 ]</font>
Curious as to why you dug up a year-old post, only to highlight the exact same thread? 