1. Guí
(Eithne Ní Chatháin)
Go mbeidh ciúnas san intinn chiapaithe chráite,
Síocháin is sólás diaidh ar ndiaidh.
Go dtiocfaidh solas na beatha beo ina ngathanna geala
Le tiubhas an scamaill dhorcha a bhriseadh.
Go gcuirfidh tú tús le turas do fhíor-sholas,
Roghnaigh an bheatha is an bhóithrín gheal.
D'anam trom - go n-osclófar is go n-ardófar
Mar níl in aon ní ach seal, a ghrá-gheal.
Síocháin, síocháin, síocháin is solas, a ghrá.
1. Prayer
(Eithne Ní Chatháin)
May there be peace in the troubled, tormented mind,
Peace and consolation gradually.
May the vibrant light of life come in bright rays
To break the thickness of the dark cloud.
May you begin the journey of your true light,
Choose life and the bright road.
Your heavy soul - may it open and rise
Because everything passes, my bright love.
Peace, peace, peace and light, love.
I began writing this song on a train-journey to Kerry a few years ago. It is one of the first songs I wrote. It is a prayer, a wish for peace in the troubled heart and mind, to invoke light and love especially when negativity clouds the view.
2. Who knows where the time goes
(Sandy Denny)
Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving
Ah, but then you know it's time for them to go
But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
And I am not alone while my love is near me
I know it will be so until its time to go
So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again
I have no fear of time
For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?
For me, this song carries a most graceful awareness and brave acceptance of the change and movement of life, and of one's place in it all. Thanks to Sandy Denny for such a powerful song.
3. The Munster Jig, The Lark in the Bog
(trad. arr. Eithne Ní Chatháin)
Dhá phort ó cheantar Shliabh Luachra. Sliabh Luachra is an area that takes in parts of the Kerry, Cork and Limerick borderlands. It is known for its unique style of music and dancing, in particular it's slides and polkas. I learned the first tune from my good friend, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and the second from a recording of well-known fiddle player and exponent of Sliabh Luachra music, Denis Murphy.
4. One Morning in June
(Eithne Ní Chatháin)
One morning in June agus mé dhul ag spaisteoireacht,
Casadh liom cailín, 's ba ródheas a gnaoi.
She was so handsome gur thit mé i ngrá léi
Is d'fhága sí arraing trí cheartlár mo chroí.
I asked her her name, nó céard é an ruaig bheannaithe
A chas insan áit thú a ghrágheal mo chroí?
My heart it will break if you don't come along with me
Slán agus beannacht le buaireamh an tsaoil.
"Muise, cailín beag óg mé ó cheantar na farraige
A tógadh go cneasta mé i dtosach mo shaoil
I being so airy, ó 'sé siúd ba chleachtadh liom
Which made my own parents and me disagree."
"Muise 'chuisle 's a stór ach an éisteofá liom tamaillín
I'll tell you a story ab ait le do chroí -
That I am a young man who's totally in love with you
And surely my heart is from roguery free."
"Go you bold rogue, sure you're wanting to flatter me
Is fearr éan ar an láimh ná dhá éan ar an gcraoibh
I've neither wheat, potatoes or anything
Ná fiú an phluid leaba 'bheadh tharrainn san oíche."
"Ceannóidh mé tae agus gléasfad in aice seo
Gúna English cotton den fhaisean 'tá daor
So powder your hair, love and come away along with me
Slán agus beannacht le buaireamh an tsaoil."
There's an ale house nearby agus beidh muid go maidin ann
If you're satisfied a ghrá gheal mo chroí
Early next morning we'll send for the clergy man
Is beidh muidne ceangailte i ngan fhios dhon tsaol
Beidh muid ag ól chúns mhairfeas an t-airgead
Then we will take the road home with all speed
When the reckoning is paid, who cares for the landlady?
Slán agus beannacht le buaireamh an tsaoil.
I enjoy the carefree and daring tone of this macaronic song (leath as Gaeilge, half in English!), bidding farewell to the worries of life! If I were to translate it all into English, then I'd have to translate it all into Irish too, and that might get messy, so fágfaidh muid siúd mar atá sé! I think you'll follow the general gist anyway!
5. Pretty Bird
(Hazel Dickens)
Fly away little pretty bird,
Fly, fly away,
Fly away little pretty bird
And pretty you will always stay.
I see in your eyes a promise,
Your own tender love you bring,
But fly away little pretty bird,
Cold runneth the spring.
I cannot make you no promise,
For love is such a delicate thing,
But fly away little pretty bird,
For he'd only clip your wings.
Fly far beyond the dark mountain,
To where you'll be free ever more,
Fly away little pretty bird,
To where the cold winter winds don't blow.
I came upon Aimee and Morgan of the band 'Furnace Mountain', from the state of Virginia, busking one sunny day in Galway. I fell in love with their angelic harmonies and with this song immediately. I love singing it with my dear sister and friend, Nóra.
6. What's in the bag love?
(Eithne Ní Chatháin)
What's in the bag, love, you carry around?
'Looks so heavy on your shoulders, is it weighing you down?
And what's in the bag, love, you hold onto so tight?
Won't you come here and sit down and talk with me a while.
Yes, I know love that words can confuse,
Can't translate how you're feeling, so you hide the truth
'Til you can't even tell what all the tears are for.
Well, sit now and cry a river, hide no more.
Lay your load down upon the soft ground,
Lay your load down, let it all fall down.
What's in your heart, love, you carry around?
Is it broken from all the trying, tired and bound?
You opened up before, and again you had to shut the door,
Well, what are you trying so hard to keep in or keep out?
Lay your load down upon the soft ground,
Lay your load down, let it all fall down.
You can carry forever, a thought made of anger
'Til it weighs your very spirit down,
But darling can't you see, that all you were born to be
Is one with the wonder and the Oneness of all things,
With the primroses in springtime,
With the golden evening sunshine,
With the bird-song filling your heart,
So let go now, let flow now, let go to allow
The earth to hold you, to carry you,
Lay your load down, let it all fall down,
Lay your load down upon the soft ground,
Lay your load down, let it all fall down.
Be held.... be healed.... and be loved.
Writing, playing and singing this song has been a gift to me, and is my gift to you.
7. Turas go Tír na nÓg
(trad. arr. Liam de Brúinéir & Eithne Ní Chatháin)
My Grandad, Liam de Brúinéir, started me off on a 1/4 sized fiddle at the age of 4. He also taught me this beautiful air which translates as 'Journey to the Land of Eternal Youth'.
Mo bhuíochas do Liam agus do gach éinne a roinn liom traidisiún ársa agus álainn na tíre seo.
8. Bonny Blue-eyed Lassie
(trad. arr. Eithne Ní Chatháin)
How can I live at the top of a mountain
Without gold in my pocket or money for to count it?
Ah, but I would let the money go, all for to please her fancy
And I'd marry no one but my bonny blue-eyed lassie.
She's my bonny blue-eyed lassie with an air so sweet and tender.
Her red rosy cheeks and her waist so neat and slender.
I'd roll her in my arms and fondly I'd embrace her
But how can I love her when all my people hate her.
Ah, some people say she is very low in station
And more of them say she'll be the cause of my ruination.
Ah but let them all say what they will
To her I will prove constant still
Until the day I die, she will be my own lovely lady.
Brightly swims the swans over the dark streams of Eochaill
And sweetly sings the nightingale, all for to behold her.
In the cold frost and snow, the moon shines so sweetly
But sweeter by far 'tween me and my true love.
Although my false friends, they would revile thee,
Here is the hand, love, that never will beguile thee.
Here is the hand although in the dark, love,
The next place you'll find it will be in the church, love.
I was drawn to the beautiful melody of this Scottish song and to the author's determined intention to love the lady in question against all the odds. I learned it from a recording of Elizabeth (Bess) Cronin of Baile Mhuirne, Co. Cork.
9. Fáinne Geal an Lae, Andy Mc Gann's, The 4 Courts
(trad. arr. Eithne Ní Chatháin)
D'fhoghlaim mé an leagan álainn seo de 'Fáinne Geal an Lae' ó mo chara Bernie Pháid agus ó Steve Cooney. The first tune is an older version of 'Fainne Geal an Lae' or 'The Dawning of the Day', the tune that Kavanagh's 'Raglan Road' was later put to. This version was collected by Canon James Goodman in the Ventry area, West Kerry, in the 1800s. Following it are two reels that remind me of the merry band of fiddlers with whom I have grown up.
10. Eileanóir na Rún
(trad. arr. Eithne Ní Chatháin)
Mo ghrá thú dhon chéad fhéachaint, a Eileanóir na Rún
Is ort a bhím a' smaoineamh tráth a mbím ar mo shuan
A ghrá dhon tsaol 's a chéad searc, is tú is deise ná ban éireann
Curfá
A bhruinnilín deas óg, is tú is deise, milse póg
Chúns a mhairfead beo beidh gean a'm ort
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn na gamhna leat,
A Eileanóir na Rún
Bhí bua aici go meallfadh sí na héanlaith ón gcrann
'S bhí bua eile aici go dtóigfeadh sí an corp fuar ón mbás
Bhí bua eile aici nach ndéarfad, 'sí grá mo chroí í 's mo chéad searc
An dtiocfaidh tú nó an bhfanfaidh tú, a Eileanóir na Rún?
Nó an aithneofá an té nach gcáinfeadh thú, a chuid den tsaol 's a stór?
ó tiocfaidh mé 's ní fhanfaidh mé, is maith a d'aithneoinn an té nach gcáinfeadh mé
A beautiful love song ar an sean-nós about requited love (for a change!)
'Tiocfaidh mé 's ní fhanfaidh mé. Is maith a d'aithneoinn an té nach gcáinfeadh mé',
- 'I will come and I will not wait. I would recognise well the one who would not fault me', she replies to his request. As with 'One Morning in June', I learned this song from recordings of the great sean-nós singer Seosamh ó hÉanaigh and from other wonderful singers from the sean-nós 'Mecca' of Carna, Conamara.