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Tha Seathan An-diugh na Mharbhan

Fieldworkers
Date 07 August 1950
Track ID 25944
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

CW0100A.433

Original Tape ID

CW0100A

Summary

This is a waulking song. It tells of Seathan, son of the King of Ireland. The composer tells how she was in Islay and Ireland with him, and attended Mass with him in the Yellow Wood. It would be better to be with Seathan behind a ruin than to be upstairs with a prince. She goes on to tell how Seathan is now dead, having been trapped and killed by his enemies.

Item Notes

50 lines sung. Most of the lines have been sung twice. Recorded by the Barra Folklore Committee.

See:
'Hebridean Folksongs' vol. II, no. XLVI

Other versions:
'Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness' XIII, pp. 204-208
'Òrain Luaidh Màiri Nighean Alasdair' (K. C. Craig) pp. 118-120
'105 Songs of Occupation from the Western Isles of Scotland' (Frances Tolmie) no. 51, pp. 207-210
'Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society' I, p. 90
'Carmina Gadelica' V, pp. 67-81 (a very long version – 192 lines)
'An Introduction to Gaelic Poetry' pp. 75-81

Manuscript sources:
'Fr Allan MS' fol. 95; folklore notebook V, item 194; notebook VI, item 29
'Canon MacLean MS' I, 7

Recording Location

County - Inverness-shire

Parish - Barra

Island - Barra

Village/Place - Castlebay

Language

Gaelic

Genre

Song

Collection

Canna

Source Type

Wire

Audio Quality

Good