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Duan na Muildheartaich

Lyrics:

Latha dhan Fhinn air Tulaich Oirill
Coimhead Èirinn far mòr thimcheall
Chunnacas a' tighinn air bharraibh thonn
An earra chraoille chràille chrom
'S e b' ainm dhan nì nach bu thiom
A' Mhuildheartach mhaol ruadh
O chrìochaibh Lochlainn thar sàil
Gu Èirinn a chomhachadh uile
Bha claidheamh meirgeach air a crios
An àm na gairge clisge cais
Bha dà shleagh eile chaoile chath
Air an taobh eile na chaillich
Bha h-aodann dubhghorm air dhreach a' ghuail
Le deud chràbadach chnàmh ruadh
Bha aon sùil rionna na ceann
'S bu luaith i na rionna Gheamhraidh
No mar chribhìnich chais air a ceann
No mar choill chraobhaidh àrd chritheann
Coimhead nam Fiannta bho deas,
Diùcadh a' bhiast chon na h-aimhlis
Bha bhiast a' mire ri h-àl
A thàrladh le gion gun chomain
Mharbh i le sàthadh ceud laoch
'S gu robh gàire na garbh chraos
Gach laoch a b' ionmhainnich a bh' ann
A thogadh ri caolaibh crann
Mar sgàth fala measg nan con
Na biodh Soireal gam mùigheadh
Nuair a chunnaic iad colg na bèiste
Dh'èirich Fionn, flath na Finn
Dh'èirich Oisein flath nam fear
Dh'èirich Oscar is Diorainn
Dh'èirich Diarmad O' Duinn
Dh'èirich sin is Iarl' O' Buinn
Dh'èirich triùir mhac 'ic Ciar O' Dhuinn
Dh'èirich sin agus Cearbhall.
Dh'èirich Glaisean Fhad-amhach
Dh'èirich is Àrd-amharc
Dh'èirich Ciardhubh, mac Righ Lòin
Dh'èirich sin agus Rìgh na Sgoireal.
'S e 'n ceathrar a b' fhoghaintiche bha san Fhinn
Chaidh a' chòmhrag ris a' bhèist
'S bha i ga frithealadh mu seach
Mar ruitheadh a' lann air a lasair.

Composer

Unknown/Traditional

Performances

Gaelic song index ref: COG206

Find all versions of this song in Tobar an Dualchais

Additional Info

Heroic Lays (Duain)

Heroic lays of this kind were composed at some point between the tenth and the fifteenth centuries in the Classical Gaelic that was once used in both Scotland and Ireland. They belong to the great heroic narratives about figures such as Fionn mac Cumhaill, Cú Chulainn, and the Fèinn. The Norsemen are the enemies, and this lay tells how the Fèinn killed An Mhuildhearteach, a monstrous and fearsome Norse creature.

In Leabhar na Fèinne she is described as follows:

“This personage is described in ballads as a woman, having one terrible eye, swift as a mackerel, shaggy hair, a black-blue complexion, and teeth encumbered with splinters of bone. According to some versions an eagle or griffin, with claws like a tree, was on her head. She was an ally of the Norsemen. She came from the sea and fought all the Fèinne, who formed a battle-ring of their seven battalions before they slew her.”

Versions of Duan na Muildheartaich and many other heroic lays can be found in Leabhar na Fèinne, edited by John F. Campbell, first printed by Spottiswoode and Co., London, in 1872. It was republished by the Irish University Press in Ireland in 1972.