DESCRIPTION:
The Scottish Gaelic quartet Cruinn perform at Celtic Connections 2012.
www.cruinn.net
Brian Ó hEadhra on lead vocals.

Tàladh na Beinne Guirme

- le Goiridh mac Alasdair Dhùghaill
Bràigh na h-Aibhneadh, C.B.

- ceòl le Goiridh agus le Brian O hEadhra


Fàil ill ó 's na hó ro éileadh o ro
Fàil ill é 's na hó ro éileadh ó
Hiùrabh ó 's na hó ro éileadh o ro
Fàil ill é 's na hó ro éileadh ó.

A dhaoine, bha mi 'seo bho'n a bhris an là,
Sìnte, gu sìtheil 'na mo shuain,
'S an t-sìorruidheachd, am bòidhchead slàn mar a dheònaich E,
'S an nàdur a' freagairt dha mo dhuan.

Air maduinn, dh'fhairich mi ann dealachadh,
Mo chaithris is m'ònrachd 'tighinn gu ceann,
Ceòl na tuaighe is nan duanagan,
Dh'éisd mi is thog mi fhìn am fonn.

Daoine, daoine còire, curanta,
A ghiùlain gach cruadal 's càs gu treun,
Dualchas, dualchas beairteach, briagha, beò,
Mar chàirdean, gu'n d'thug iad orm seinn.

Ach thàinig, thàinig oirnn an darna là,
Is chunnaic mi mo dhaltan a' sìoladh às,
'S gann gu'n cluinn mi an cànan ceòlmhór, blasda, binn,
Cànan coimheach, cruaidh a' tighinn 'na h-àit'.

Tha sgleò, tha sgleò air tighinn air an àite seo,
Is sàmhchair bho'n a dh'fhalbh móran,
'Nam chaithris air mo chloinn 'nan cadal buan,
Fanaidh mi 'gan tàladh ann le'm òran.


The Lullaby of the Blue Mountain

-lyrics by Jeff MacDonald
-air by Jeff MacDonald and Brian O hEadhra

Fàil ill ó 's na hó ro éileadh o ro
Fàil ill é 's na hó ro éileadh ó
Hiùrabh ó 's na hó ro éileadh o ro
Fàil ill é 's na hó ro éileadh ó.

O people, I was here since the dawning of the first day,
Reclining, peacefully in my slumber,
In eternity, in total beauty as He willed it,
An nature suiting and replying to my song.

In the morning, I sensed a change,
My watching and my solitude coming to an end,
The music of the axe and of songs,
I listened and I joined in with their chorus.

People, a kind and dauntless people,
Who bravely endured every hardship and distress,
A culture, a rich, beautiful, living culture,
As friends, they caused my to sing.

But great change overtook us,
And I saw my foster-children dying out,
Rarely do I hear the melodious, sweet language,
There's a foreign, hard-sounding language in its stead.

A pall has come upon this place,
And silence, since so many have departed,
I am wakeful and watchful over my children in their eternal slumber,
I will remain, lullabying them with my song.

© Seanachaidh Gaelic Education and Promotion

1Goiridh mac Alasdair Dhùghaill (Jeff MacDonald) - I grew up in Kingsville which is in St. Mary of the Angels Parish, a great, Gaelic community in Cape Breton Island. I began learning Gaelic seriously at the age of 19 and was extremely blessed to be able to learn from some of the local tradition-bearers, some of the best in the Cape Breton Gaelic tradition. I come from a very musical family, the MacDonalds of Queensville.

The Song A' Bheinn Ghorm, the Blue Mountain, runs through Glendale, Kingsville and Queensville and has been a backdrop for our Gaelic way of life there since the first settlers began coming to the area at the end of the 18th century. I was asked by the organizers of the Celtic Colours festival to work with Brian O hEadhra (from Ireland and Scotland) on composing a Gaelic song when he would visit the island in the fall of 2004. This is the result of our collaboration. It lets on that the mountain is telling its story about the arrival, success and decline of Bràigh na h-Aibhneadh's Gaels (Bràigh na h-Aibhneadh is the Gaelic name for our area). The mountain grew to love the people and laments the decline of the Gaelic language and culture there. The mountain will eternally sing its lullaby to its foster-children who slumber in the soil of Bràigh na h-Aibhneadh.