I got up early, it would have been better not to
Dh'éirich mi moch, b'fheàrr nach do dh'éirich
Click to see the original lyrics (Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic))
| 1. | Dh’èirich Mi Moch Madainn Cheòthar |
| 2. | Òran an Ròin |
| 3. | Hùg Air A' Bhonaid Mhòir |
tdwarms 
Ontano Magico
Sun, 10/02/2019 - 13:53
At the summer pastures of the Highlands are still told of the beautiful Morag (Marion) seduced by a kelpie in human form; she, while noticing the strangeness of her husband, did not understand his true nature, if not after the birth of their child and … she decided to abandoning baby in swaddling clothes and husband shapeshifter!
On the Isle of Skye they still sing a song in Gaelic, ‘Oran-tàlaidh an eich-uisge’ or ‘Oran each-uisge’ (The water kelpie’s song) the “Lullaby of the kelpie” a melancholy air with which the kelpie cradled his child without a mother, and at the same time a plea to Morag to return to them, both he and the child needed her.
Of this lament we know several textual versions handed down to today in the Hebrides.
https://terreceltiche.altervista.org/morag-and-the-kelpie/
with some notes in the english translation following my italian one
the kelpie, suffering from loneliness, leaves the lake early in the morning and takes on human form
the shapeshifter promises food and comfort to the girl to convince her to follow him, but he warns her, he is a nocturnal creature and will not wake up with her in the morning!
the kelpie remembers the night meeting when they had sex (and obviously nine months later their son was born)
after the good memories of the past it comes the present, the woman has discovered the true nature of her companion and she dislikes their child
michealt
Sun, 10/02/2019 - 19:41
Your comment led me to look at your Italian translation, which I Iike. It also led me to read through my translation again because your comments had the word "stitk" in them instead of "stirk" which was clearly a typo (on my part, as you read it in my English translation). Reading through found some more typos - and none of them would have got fixed if it wasn't for your comment. So thanks very much for that, Cattia. And now I have a new source of Gaelic (all three Gaelics, I guess) songs and translations - your website, and thanks very much for that too.
breiz
Tue, 07/06/2022 - 10:24
The line :’S bheir mi goidean breagha breac dhut.
I was wondering why goidean (instead of gaidean was used) and came across this:
https://books.google.nl/books?id=7H4BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=goid...
and there the line is: 's gheibh thu goidean bric o' n' lochan
Translated as: and thou should get a string (or withe) of trout (from the lakes)
Could it be that breac here means trout, instead? It makes sense as an each-uisge to be able to get a string of trout.
So translating it as 'S bheir mi gaidean brèagha breac dhut. And I will get you a string of beautiful trout.
EdTx
Wed, 06/07/2022 - 02:56
RE: "An daoidh gheal donn"
"gheal" — "white"
"donn" — "brown", "brown-haired", "brunette"
In view of the cattle-nature of the lyrics, a better translation would be "roan."
Although "roan" is more often used about horses, it is also used about cattle that are two-color spotted or variegated, most often (in cattle) a mixture of reddish brown with white markings..
Ergo, "An daoidh gheal donn" => "the wicked/worthless roan."
It were better to use a translation more clearly about livestock than the one, above, which could have racist overtones—given how people are nowadays. (And, yes, I used "were": it's a correct usage of the past subjunctive.)
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