CARMINA GADELICA

Ortha nan Gaidheal



GIVE THY MILK

Give thy milk, brown cow,
For what reason should I conceal ?
The [skin of the] calf of yonder cow on the partition,
While the calf of my love is on another grange.
Oh! ho! another grange.

Give thy milk, brown cow,
Give thy milk, brown cow,
Give thy milk, brown cow,
Heavily flowing.

My beloved shall get white-bellied calves,
And a fetter fine that shall go kindly round her legs
No fetter of hair, nor of heather, nor of lint refuse,
But a dear fetter that men bring from Saxon land.
Oh! ho! from Saxon land.




And my queen maiden of beauty shall get
A fetter smooth to go softly round her legs;
No fetter of cord, nor of lint, nor lint refuse,
But a fetter of silk up from Saxon land.
Oh! ho! from Saxon land.

My beloved shall get grass and shelter,
She shall get hill, heath, and plain,
She shall get meadow-grass, club-rush, and stubble,
And she shall get the wine that comes from the elements of
the steep bens.
Oh! ho! the steep bens.
 
 
 
Niall MacFhionnlaigh, A' Chiste Ghàidhlig, a chuir na teacsaichean seo gu léir bho Carmina Gadelica air an làrach-lìn aig Sabhal Mór Ostaig ann an 1995
2001-04-08 CPD