March 19, 2008
Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile
Grey day. Listening to iPod shuffle. And on came "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile" - you know, it's a song I'd probably never seek out, because I have heard it enough in my childhood to last a lifetime. I have so much Irish crap on my iPod that I hear two notes of some jig or a half-note from a bagpipe - and I immediately roll my eyes and press "forward" - like: how on earth can there be so much Irish music on here? Who knew that The Chieftains wrote 25,000 goddamn songs? Don't get me wrong. Love it. But every other song?? But whatever, I have a nice version of "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile" by The Cassidys - who can sometimes be a little bit "celtic" new age-y for me - (you know, that's the trend where folks seem hell-bent on making Ireland gentle and good and feckin' toothless.) Yeah, well, Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile's got teeth. Doesn't suck that Gráinne Mhaol is an ancestress of ours, and my sister is named for her.
It's good to remember we have teeth, from time to time. Not so bad to bite back once in a while.
Tá Gráinne Mhaol ag go duill ar sáile,
óglaigh armtha léi mar gharda,
Gaeil iad féin is ní Gaill ná Spáinnigh,
is cuirfidh siad ruaig ar Ghallaibh.
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile,
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile,
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile
Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
'Sé do bheatha, a bhean ba léanmhar,
do b' é ár gcreach tú bheith i ngéibheann,
do dhúiche bhreá i seilbh méirleach,
is tú díolta leis na Gallaibh.
A bhuí le Rí na bhFeart go bhfeiceam,
mura mbeam beo ina dhiaidh ach seachtain,
Gráinne Mhaol agus míle gaiscíoch,
ag fógairt fáin ar Ghallaibh.
I have no idea what it is about it, but I find the Irish language to be absolutely beautiful to look at. I have some Irish books at home that I can't even read because I only know the easy stuff. I still stare at them. Does that sound retarded?
Posted by: Emily at March 19, 2008 6:59 PMI love the look of it too. It is SO not a romance language - hahaha. I mean, look at it!
No wonder we switched our name to O'Malley somewhere along the way - instead of Ni Maille or Mhaol or all the other variations. But I like the Irish, too. My name would be Sile (accent on "e") which would have caused much issues with substitute teachers thru grade school - as my sister Siobhan can attest!
It's about Grania's exploits protecting, you know, the sacred green fields and all that.
Posted by: red at March 19, 2008 7:10 PMSo how would you pronounce Sile? Sil-E. Shill-E. Shill-AY. Okay. This is embarrassing. I'm just randomly guessing.
Posted by: tracey at March 20, 2008 12:41 AMTracey - it would sound the same as my name now - the "si" is "sh" in Irish - like "Siobhan" - the "si" there is "sh". I'm not sure which way the accent would go on the last "e" in Sile - but it'd come out the same as my name now. It's like the Irish names are spelled in a way that make you go - WHAT? Yet the pronunciation is pretty straightforward. Like my friend Beth's daughter is named Ceileidh. That's basically just "Kay-lee" but in the Irish you've got a D in there. And an H. Ha!! I love the weird spelling of Irish names - it just looks neat to me.
Posted by: red at March 20, 2008 7:06 AMThe pronounciation of it is CRAZY. It's so foreign. So different from any way I've ever expected those letters to sound. It's actually really fun to learn about, but very difficult.
Posted by: Emily at March 20, 2008 10:43 AMAlso, how on earth Ath Cliath translates to "Dublin" is one of life's many mysteries.
Posted by: red at March 20, 2008 11:09 AMI know! I can see how Doire became "Derry," but...um, what? And how in the hell is go raibh maith agat pronounced "ga rev mah agut"?!?!?
I remember when you told me Ceileidh was Kay-lee. I still can't believe that -- I mean, it's so cool, but it's got me straight trippin', you know?
Posted by: tracey at March 20, 2008 1:10 PMTracey-
Trust me when I tell you that EVERY teacher that has ever met my daughter shares your head trips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
agreed.
Posted by: tony at April 11, 2008 9:30 AM