Lover’s Rock

Hornish Point, South Uist / Rudha Thornais, Uibhist a Deas

Another song narrative recorded on 27 May 1869 by Alexander Carmichael was recited by a domestic servant, Mary MacMillan (c. 1825–1883) who hailed from Lionauiche, South Uist. The song and accompanying narrative are versions of A’ Bhean Eudach (The Jealous Wife), mentioned in previous blogs, as it contains similar motifs: for instance, the man has to choose between two sweethearts and then when he overheard his eventual choice singing about what she had done in order to gain his affection, he leaves her.

An Leumaire-rua[dh] at Holm
below Ru[bha]-thoirinnis. Then here the wom[an]
was left. There is a deep narrow channel
which a pers[on] might leap. The place
is full of limpets. The two women were
two sweethearts the man had. He mar[ried]
one & left the other & the mar[ried] one remained
on the rock till the first bhoinne
lionai & there[fore] was unable to leave
The man, mar[ried], the young girl & lived with
her till one day when she was milk[in]g
the cows she was sing[ing] this song
He over heard her & under[stood] how his first wife was
lost. He left her & never ret[urne]d.
The woman sat on the top of the rock
and comp[osed] the song while the other
sat opp[osite] her & learnt it from her.
Sin do chasa dhomh hug o
Sin do lamh dhomh
Hug o Cha sin cha sin hao u ri horo s beag mo
chas dhiot hugo
Thig an coite so maireach.
Iain bhig a hao sa naire
Chan iar[r] [th]u noc[hd] cioch do mhathar
This was a truthful song. The two wo[men]
& the man belonged to Ioc[hd]ar & both the man had been
courting. He mar[ried] one & the other resolved upon re-
venge.

The lyrics themselves are very truncated in this particular version which may reflect the fact that Carmichael had taken them down previously. Also, the song narrative would have been familiar not only the collector for this song and variations thereof were not only known throughout the Highlands and Islands but also in many parts of Ireland. Its geographic spread is probably a reflection of its popularity which remains to this day among Gaelic singers and musicians.

Reference:
CW150/59, ff. 33r–34v.
Image:
Hornish Point, South Uist / Rudha Thornais, Uibhist a Deas.

Song Narrative of Seathan Mac Rìgh Èireann

Breivig, Barra / Brèibhig, Barraigh

An interesting bit of lore picked up Alexander Carmichael from the recitation of a blacksmith called Donald MacPhee (c. 1816–1869) from Brèibhig in the Isle of Barra concerns the famous waulking song Seathan Mac Rìgh Èireann (Seathan the son of the King of Ireland), as popular then as it is to this very day. The narrative speaks for itself:

Composed by a aunt of MacLeod
of Harris to MacNeill Dhun an t-Sleibh
her husband. She alleged that the Priest
attempted to take advantage of her in the
confessional (He was Irish.) The
Priest drowned a candle in chapel on
the Sunday foll[ow]ing indicating that she was
ex-com[municated]. This angered MacNeill
and led to a quarrel between himself
and wife. She left and went home to
her father. She fell with a former
sweetheart. She then comp[osed] this
song upon hearing which MacN[e]ill
said Co sam bi leis an leis
an long luchd s liomsa a clao [clar] and went
with his brolair for her. MacN[e]ill
then left the Church of Rome. There
was a ban against Cath[olics] during
the Carras and fad na h-aidolein
not to make balls. To spite the Priest
Mac Mhic Neill Dhun an t Sleibh
make to balls and feills. He was ex-
com[municated]. In going out of church he
said to the Priest that he would never
hear Mass again and so left the
Church of Rome. This was the
Lady MacNiell [sic] who left Cios-
mal. All rent was paid in kind
in those days. She then went to Lag
fhliodh from which the woman
came with the fish by the Lag fhliodh
close to Doirlin at Tangasdal.

As is well known this song is far longer than the mere fifteen lines taken down by Carmichael which probably reflects the fact that this was all the reciter knew or could manage to recall on that particular occasion when it was recorded:

Hu ru o na hi oro
Na nam fai[gh]te Seathain ri fhuasgla[dh]
Cha bhiodh an cro[dh] laoi[gh] eir bhuailt.
Hu ru o na hi oro
Cha bhi gobhar an Creag Ruari[dh]
A Sheath[ain] sabh[ail] nan anam
A Sheath[ain] sa mhic Iosa Criosda
Ge grianach an la[tha]
S beag m aithear ri bho[i]chead
O hi ri ri o huru bho rotho.
Mi nam shui[dh] eir an tulaich
Gon am mulad mi m onar
Smi ri feitheamh a chaolais, S gun mo ghaol
Nam faic thu tigh[inn] Smi gun r[u]itheadh ad cho[mhdh]ail
Bhiodh mo chri[th] lan solais

A far longer version of this particular waulking later appeared in the fifth volume of Carmina Gadelica where a number of reciters and so it appears that this version of the song was a conflation of many different versions. The song has been recorded on numerous occasions during the twentieth century, many from Barra tradition bearers such as Calum Johnston (1891–1972) and Nan MacKinnon (1903–1982), as well as being published in various Gaelic periodicals.

References:

Carmina Gadelica, v, pp. 60–83.

CW150/11, ff. 3v–4v.

Cumha Sheathain: http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/94370/1

Seathan Mac Rìgh Èireann: http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/21240/1

Image:

Breivig, Barra / Brèibhig, Barraigh.

Song Narrative: Ailein Duinn a shiùbhlainn leat

A famous Gaelic song Ailein Duinn a shiùbhlainn leat (Brown-haired Allan, I would go with you) seems to have captured Alexander Carmichael’s imagination for he recorded around a half a dozen versions of it. One particular reciter from whom he got at least one version of this song was Kate Urquhart (1830–1927), Taransay, wife of Donald MacKinnon (the very same man who had guided Carmichael around the island). The following song narrative behind this tragic accident compares favourably with other versions that are scattered throughout many Gaelic journals and song anthologies. This note is also interspersed with some Campbell family history as, presumably, Anne Campbell, styled Annag nic Dhòmhnaill ’ic Iain Òig, was of this stock:

This song comp[osed] by An[n]a ni[c] Dho[mh]n[u]i[l]l ic Iain
Oig Chaimbeul. Iain Sheilebost was
the Duke of Argyle son cal[led] who came to Har[ris].
It was tho[ugh]t he and MacLeoids son kil[le]d a
young man at col[lege] & they ran here. He
was heir to the Duke his fath[er], but he nev[er]
went back. He went fr[om] Seilebost to Scapa
fr[om] which the Campbells of Scalpa came
The Camp[bells] of Strannd de[scended] fr[om] one
of the Barra breac fam[il]y who came to see
Iain Sheil[ebost] See here. Iain Sheile[bost]
came to Harris ab[ou]t 200 y[ea]rs ago.
The composer of the song was eng[aged] to a ship
Capt[ain] & had been drown[e]d near Scalpa or else
where. When she died soon after of a broken
heart she was to be bur[ied] at Rodail. On the
way thither the funeral boat kept close to land
The one cont[aining] the boy was furth[est] out & a storm
came which sever[ed] it fr[om] the rest They gave them
up for lost & set crainn which fell upon a dying
man An old man said We sill not throw
out the living till we throw out the dead.
They then threw out the corpse when it was
washed in again. They then took out the foot
end and all the body to slid[e] out when it w[en]t
to the bot[tom] & im[mediately] a dead calm en[sued] It was Miss
Camp[bell] own req[uest] that she sh[ou]ld be bur[ied] near
the place where he lover had been lost. She
was the dau[gh]t[er] of Don[ald] Camp[bell] who entertain[ed]
P[rince] Charlie.

References:
CW 116, fos. 2v–3r.
Carmina Gadelica, ii, p. 282.
Gillies, Anne Lorne, Gaelic Songs of Scotland (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006), pp. 50–53.
Image: Scalpay, Harris © Copyright David Wake and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Every Song a Story – The Jealous Wife

The headline for this blog is a slight exaggeration, but nonetheless there is a strong tradition of song narratives in Gaelic culture and the ceilidh house, or any similar type of gathering, which would have provided an opportunity for the participants to discuss the finer nuances of just who composed a particular song or in which circumstances the song – whether a lullaby, a love song, a dirge or a lament – came to be. One of the most famous of Gaelic songs is A' Bhean Eudach, or the Jealous Wife, once widely known throughout Gaeldom and still popular among Gaelic singers to this day. It is unclear (so far) from whom Alexander Carmichael got the story, or rather stories, but it would appear that he is writing up an amalgam of different narratives from the many localities which claim the song to be their own. Each locality, of course, added its own local colour to the mix to give an air of authenticity. The story is basically the same for each place, although local variations have often been added:

A Bhean Iadaich



Eigg, Rum, Canna, Coll and Uibhist and
others of the Western Isles claim this song.
In Uist the scene is laid at Aird-a-mhachair
and the reef or rock is pointed out where
the unhappy woman was drowned. The
woman who decoyed the other woman
to the traigh dhuilisg – dulse shore is
said to have been the servant girl of the
house and who beacme enamoured of her
master. In Eigg the "bean iadach" –
jealous woman is said to have been
the sister of the wife who was drowned
The story of the drowning differs in
some slight details in the different islands.
The main features of the story are
these – The girl who coveted the
man got the woman to come
with her to the traigh dhuilisg – dulse
shore / ebb. The two women sat down
upon a tidal reef and the day being
warm and sultry the married woman
fell fast asleep while the watchful
girl crooned a taladh cadail – sleep-
ing lullaby. The girl as the story goes
tied strands of the womans hair to the
sea-weed upon the rock escaping her-
self before the rapidly flowing tide cut off her retreat When
the rising tide and the increasing waves
surrounded the sleeping woman she awoke
but awoke to find herself tied to the rock
and the tide already under her and round
her and her retreat cut off between the
rock on which she was and the shore. By the time the
woman got her hair untied from the sea-
weed the rock on which she was was al-
ready under the sea and the waves soon
washed her off the rock and into deep water
where she was drowned. When she went
home she told that they both fell asleep
under the heat of the sun and that when
they awoke their retreat was cut off – that
she got across le a beatha with her life
but that the woman was drowned.
The crime was discovered one day
sometime thereafter while the guilty
was grinding at the quern. The woman
was composing and singing the song
while he husband was listening near by.
Unknown to her the husband heard
the whole story.


References:
CW 152, fos. 40r–41v
Image: Gathering Dulse