Mo Mha\Thair
(Niall MacGillethain)
Another sentimental song. By Niall MacGilleathain; but
this is a version taken from a singer, not from the book,
so the words won't be quite as he wrote them.
Thoir mo shoraidh nunn thar chuantan
Gu mo mha\thair 's fhada bhuam i,
Cha chu\m astar mo/r a chuan a gaol o m' chri\dh.
'Si rinn m'altrum 's mi nam' phaisde,
'S ann 'na gra\dh a fhuair mi m'a\rach,
O chan fha\illinnich gu bra\th mo spe/is-sa dhi.
(Seisd)
Tha mo smuaintean oirr' nam dhu\sgadh,
'Na mo chadal tha i dlu\th dhomh,
Tha i daonnan air mo chu\ram anns gach ni\,
'S tha a pearsa aoidheil shunndach
'Na mo shu\ilean fad na h-u\ine
'S e bhith faighinn null d'a h-ionnsaigh ru\n mo chri\dh.
Nuair a chuimhnicheas mi m'o\ige
Is an gaol a thug i dhomh-sa
Thig na deo\ir a' ruith gu deo\nach bho mo chri\dh.
Biodh a fair' orm 's a cu\ram
Nuair a bha mi 'na mo naoidhean
Du\sgadh iarrtais bhith ag cluinntinn fuaim a bil'.
Ged a tha i nis fa\s aosda
O cha lughdaich sud mo ghaol-sa
Do'n te/ 's gra\dhaiche 'san t-saoghail mho/r rium fhi\n,
'S nuair a ruigeas mise bhroilleach
'San robh mo cheann beag tric a folach
Gheibh mi aoibhneas 's gheibh mi sonas 'm bla\th's a cri\dh.
Ged a tha mi'n so air faondradh
Ann an ti\r taobh thall an t-saoghail,
'S ged tha cuantan sgaoilte eadar mis' is i,
'S e mo dhu\rachd a dhol dhachaidh
Gu mo mha\thair anns a chlachain
'S a bhith 'g a\illeis bhith nam' bhalach beag a rithis.
Word List
---------
a\illeis [aL'is'] pleasure, will, intention (dative case of ailleas)
(a\il-gheas, but grammatical gender is f. not m.)
ag a\illeis : wishing, desiring, enjoying
altrum [altrum] nursing
a\rach [a:rux] rearing, bringing up
aoibhneas [ujvn'us] joy, gladness
aoidheil [ujel], [ujvel] kind, loving, joy-giving
[the aoibh in aoibhheas and the aoidh in aoidheil
are the same word, I think; aoidheil is sometimes
written aoibheil or aoigheil]
aosda [u:stu] old
astar [astur] journey, distance
bhalach [valox] boy, young lad (lenited form of balach)
beag [bek], [buk] small. balach beag = young male child
bil' [bil] bile [bil'@] genetive of beul: mouth, lip
biodh [bu%], [bi%] would be (incomplete tense of bi)
bhith [vi] being (bith: verbal noun from bi)
bla\th's [bla:s] warmth (abbreviation of bla\thas [bla:@s])
bra\th [bra:x] judgement; gu bra\th = for ever
(until the day of judgement)
bhroilleach [vroL'ax] bosom
bhuam [uam], [vum], [v(u)am] from me (prep. pron: bho + mi)
chadal [xatal] sleep
cheann [x'jauN] head
chlachain [xlaxaN'] town, village; dative case of clacha/n
cluinntinn [klu:N't'uN'] hearing (verbal noun from cluinn)
chri\dh [x'r'ij] heart (lenited form of cri\dh)
cri\dh [kR'ij] heart
chuan [xun], [x(u)an] sea, ocean
chuantan [x(u)antun] seas, oceans (lenited form of cuantan)
cuantan [k(u)antun] plural of cuan
chuimhnicheas [xainix'us], [xujN'@x'@s] remember (relative indicative
of cuimhnich)
chum [xum]
keep (future dependent of cum)
cu\ram [ku:rum] care, solicitude; charge, responsability
dhachaidh [%axi] home
daonnan [t@:Nun] all the time, continually, always
deo\ir [d'o:jr'] tears (plural of deur)
deo\nach [d'o:nax] willing
dlu\th [tlu:] near, close
dhol [%ol]
to go (a dhol is the infinitive of rach)
dhomh [%o ] to me, for me (prepositional pronoun do+mi)
dhomh-sa [%o: su] to me ("emphatic" form of dhomh)
du\rachd [du:roxk] inclination, intent, wish, good will
du\sgadh [du:sku%] waking (verbal noun from du\isg)
eadar [etur] between
fad [fat] (when used as preposition) throughout
fada [fata] far, long
faighinn [fajiN'] getting, finding (verbal noun from faigh)
fha\illinnich [a:L'iN'ix'] fail, default (future dependent tense)
fair' [far'] watchfulness (abbreviation of faire)
faondradh [fu:ndru%] wandering, straying, BUT
air faondradh = in an unsettled state or neglected.
Or does it mean "I've been wandering" in the last
verse here?
fa\s [fa:s] grow, growing, growth
fhi\n [hi:n] self (used with a pronoun), own (with possessive pronoun)
fhuair [huer'] found (past tense of faigh)
folach [folux] hiding (verbal noun from falaich)
(usually spelt and pronounced with a instead of o)
fuaim [fuajm] sound, noise, voice
gach [gax]
each, every
gaol [gu:l] love
ged [g'et]
although
gheibh [%'o] will get/find (future independent indicative of faigh)
(sometimes it is pronounced as it's spelt - [%'ev] but
not very often.)
gra\dh [gra:%] love
gra\dhaiche [gra:%ix'u] more/most loving/beloved/lovely
(comparative of gra\dhach)
iarrtais [iuRtus'] request; desire. (genetive case of iarrtas)
ionnsaigh [ju:si] something like "to-ness" or "towards-ness" if there
were such words in English. Used with "do" to form a
compound preposition meaning towards/to/up to (and
because ionnsuidh is a noun the compound preposition
takes the genetive: d' a h-ionnsuidh = to her,
dh'am ionnsuidh = to me, a dh'ionnsuidh an fhir =
towards the man). (I think -aigh is the officially
correct modern spelling, -uidh is pre-1981).
lughdaich [lu:tix'] will lessen (dependent future tense; the independent
has the same spelling but slightly different
pronunciation [Lu:tix'])
ma\thair [ma:her'] mother
mise [mis'u] "emphatic" form of mi (I/me)
mo/r [mo:ur] big
naoidhean [nu:jun] infant
nis [nis']
now
nuair [nuer'] when (relative, not interogative)
null [nu:L] thither, over there.
nunn [nu:N] thither, over there.
Probably it's better to use this than null as it
avoids confusion with nall [nauL] which means
hither, over here.
o\ige [o:k'e] youth
oirr'[o(i)R'] short fo oirre, on her (air + i).
In the first line of the chorus, "oirr' nam dhu\sgadh"
is [oR'am %u:sk@%], when the e of oirre is dropped
the n of nam gets dropped too. If the
e wasn't dropped it would sound quite different:
oirre 'nam dhusgadh [oR'@ nam %usk@%]
orm [orom]
on me (air + mi)
phaisde [fas't'u] child
pearsa [pjarsu] person, form, appearance
rinn [ruN'] made, did (past independent of ni)
rithis [r'i:s'] a rithis = again.
sometimes pronounced [@ r'i:s't'], and written
a rithisd or a risd or a rithist
rium [r'um] to me (ri + mi)
robh [ro] was (past dependent of bi)
ruigeas [ruk'us] will reach (relative tense of ruig)
ruith [ri], [rui] running (verbal noun); run (future dependent tense)
ru\n [ru:n] intent, wish, love, secret
saoghail [suul], [su%el] world (genetive case of saoghal)
se/isd [s'ejs't'] chorus, refrain
sgaoilte [sk@:l't'u] scattered, spread out
smuaintean [smuan't'@n] thoughts (plural of smuain)
sonas [sonus] happiness, good fortune, prosperity
soraidh [sori] greetings
spe/is [speis'] esteem, fondness, regard
sud [s'it] that, yonder (often written siud)
su\ilean [su:l'un] eyes (plural of su\il)
sunndach [su:Ndox] cheerful, joyful
taobh [tuv] side
thall [hauL] beyond, on the other side of
thar [har] over, across, more than, beyond
thig [hik']
will come
thoir [hoir'] give, take
ti\r [ti:r'] country, land
tric [trixk] often
thug [huk] gave, took (past independent of thoir)
u\ine [u:N'u] time
Translation
-----------
My Mother
Take my greetings acoss the seas
to my mother who is far away from me,
the long sea journey will not keep her love fom my heart.
It was she who nursed me as a baby,
it is in her love that I was raised,
Oh my regard for her will never fail.
(Chorus)
My thoughts are of her when I'm awake,
when I'm asleep she is close to me,
I'm always mindful of in every matter,
and her cheerful loving face is
in my eyes all the time
my heart's wish is to get over to her.
When I remember my youth
and the love she gave me
the tears come willingly running from my heart.
Her watching over me and caring for me
when I was a small child
would waken a desire to hear the sound of her voice.
Although she is gowing old now
that won't reduce my love
for the women who seems to me the most lovely in the whole world,
and when I reach the bosom
in which my little head often buried itself
I shall get happiness and joy in the warmth of her heart.
Although I'm in an unsettled state here
in a country on the far side of the world,
and although there are oceans spread between her and me,
it is my itention to go home
to my mother in the village
and to enjoy being a little boy again.
CC
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!