An raibh tu i gcill alla no caislean a' bharraigh, Are you in a foreign[1] church or in a castle locked[2], Bhfaca tu campai a bhi ag na francaigh? Do you see camps which are in France?
Mise 'gus tusa 'gus ruball na muice 'gus bacach shil' andai. Me and you and the pig's «ruball»[3] and Shile's beggar indeed[4].
Bhi me i gcill alla is caislean a' bharraigh, I was in a foreign church and in a castle locked, Chonaic me campai bhi ag na francaigh. I saw camps which are in France.
Mise 'gus tusa 'gus ruball na muice 'gus bacach shil' andai.
An raibh tu ar a chruach no bhfaca tu slua, Are you with the steel[5] or do you see an army[6], Bhi ar chnoc phadraig, bhi ar chnoc phadraig? Was it on Patrick's Hill, on Patrick's Hill?[7]
Mise 'gus tusa 'gus ruball na muice 'gus bacach shil' andai.
A bhi me ar a chruach is chonaic me slua, I was with the steel and I saw the army, A bhi ar chnoc phadraig, bhi ar chnoc phadraig. 'twas on Patrick's Hill, on Patrick's Hill.
Mise 'gus tusa 'gus ruball na muice 'gus bacach shil' andai.
[1] alla could be ‘foreign’ or ‘famous’. I think ‘foreign’ makes more sense in context. [2] bharraigh isn't in any dictionary I have, not even Dineen, but it could be a form of barra ‘barred, prevented from movement’, in a subordinate clause. I think. This is getting into some fairly advanced stunt grammar, and I'm flying without instuments. [3] I have no idea what ruball means, or even from where it is derived. Though there is “rubhaim: I cut, cut down, slay”. I can't figure out how to get from there to here. [4] Dineen: “Andaidh! Andaoi! Andaigh!interj., really! indeed!.” Which I think may answer the question you were asking. [5] I think. I think it is a circumlocution for ‘armed’. [6] slua literally means ‘host’, but is a common word for army: a host of warriors. [7] This redoubled sentence has no subject as far as I can tell. There is a form called the impersonal tense for this sort of situation, but it doesn't seem to have been used here. Unless I'm wrong, of course.
As far as I can tell it's a trad. piece, as a dialogue between a girl and her departed soldier boyfriend on campaign.
Clannad is also from from deep in the Gaeltacht, and reportedly didn't even learn English until relatively late in life. Many of their songs, especially the trad. ones are in their home dialect, and even for a fluent speaker, deciphering some of the dialects can be stunt grammar without a net.
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timeasmymeasure
Is dóigh liom é...
Date: 2009-01-15 10:05 am (UTC)[1] alla could be ‘foreign’ or ‘famous’. I think ‘foreign’ makes more sense in context.
[2] bharraigh isn't in any dictionary I have, not even Dineen, but it could be a form of barra ‘barred, prevented from movement’, in a subordinate clause. I think. This is getting into some fairly advanced stunt grammar, and I'm flying without instuments.
[3] I have no idea what ruball means, or even from where it is derived. Though there is “rubhaim: I cut, cut down, slay”. I can't figure out how to get from there to here.
[4] Dineen: “Andaidh! Andaoi! Andaigh! interj., really! indeed!.” Which I think may answer the question you were asking.
[5] I think. I think it is a circumlocution for ‘armed’.
[6] slua literally means ‘host’, but is a common word for army: a host of warriors.
[7] This redoubled sentence has no subject as far as I can tell. There is a form called the impersonal tense for this sort of situation, but it doesn't seem to have been used here. Unless I'm wrong, of course.
As far as I can tell it's a trad. piece, as a dialogue between a girl and her departed soldier boyfriend on campaign.
Clannad is also from from deep in the Gaeltacht, and reportedly didn't even learn English until relatively late in life. Many of their songs, especially the trad. ones are in their home dialect, and even for a fluent speaker, deciphering some of the dialects can be stunt grammar without a net.