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Oh Young Man Who Has Left Me

Oh young man who has left me
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
You kept me behind all others
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
Without the knowledge of my father or my mother
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
Without the knowledge of my sister or my brother
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
Oh woman over there at the spinning wheel
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
You yourself know how my heart is
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
The young Campbell in its inside
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
And I will not get baptized in Uist
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
Until I reach the man with the blond tresses
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
You kept me behind all others
 
Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho
Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag
Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho
 
Original lyrics

Òganaich Uir A Rinn M' Fhàgail

Click to see the original lyrics (Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic))

Comments
michealtmichealt    Wed, 01/11/2017 - 01:22
4

Nice translation.

Line 2 (not counting the refrain) and its repetition as line 10 seem to me more like "You kept me behind all others" or "you kept me later than all others" than "You kept me from all others at last", because there's nothing in the line that can possibly mean "from". Maybe she's saying "I lasted longer than any of your other girlfriends."

Line 7 is "a young Campbell in its inside " ("oirre" is a weird way of writing "air a" in this line, this is quite clear since the prepositional pronoun oirre wouldn't lenite the s or siubhal, but "a" (3rd person singular masculine possessive pronoun) does and of course refers back to the heart mentioned in the first part of the sentence (line 6).

Line 8 has "and" at the beginning (that's what "'s" means) - lines 6,7,8 and 9 are all one sentence (as are lines 2,3, 4 and 5).

tdwarmstdwarms
   Wed, 01/11/2017 - 01:30

Thank you so much for your input, I really appreciate it! All of your suggested improvements have been added. :)

Arou_Arou_    Wed, 01/11/2017 - 03:29

All this "Hi ri-abh o hiùraibh o ho / Hi ri-abh o ro hùbhag / Hi ri-abh a hiùraibh o ho", doesn't it mean anything? Either way, I really like the song, even though I don't know a word Gaelic. :P

tdwarmstdwarms
   Wed, 01/11/2017 - 03:34

Right. It's a very common feature of Gaelic songs (and songs in other Celtic languages more generally) to have a repeating chorus of nonsense words. Sometimes it's a mix of nonsense words together with words that actually mean something, but not in the case of this song. Not only does it sound very pretty, but it also allows those that don't know the lyrics to join in the chorus.

See this song for another example: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/julie-fowlis-bothan-%C3%A0irigh-am-br%C3%...

I expect @michealt could elucidate the subject of Gaelic songs further for us.

Arou_Arou_    Wed, 01/11/2017 - 05:10

Ah, alright! We have that in traditional Swedish songs as well, and it's also not uncommon in children's songs.

Oh, what a pretty song! Thanks! :)

tdwarmstdwarms
   Wed, 01/11/2017 - 05:17

My pleasure. It's a wonderful song!

hbmcd02hbmcd02    Wed, 13/01/2021 - 17:20

I love how she slides on "fhios agad fhèin mar a cha mo chridhe," seeing as the title of the album is Mar A Tha Mo Chridhe! Favorite part of the song. Tapadh leat from reconnecting Irish diaspora in the States