Tha sneachd air Druim Uachdair
Seo òran àlainn dhuibh, freagarrach dhan Dùbhlachd, mun gheamhradh ‘s mun ghaol, sgeul duine òig, Fearchar MacIain Òig a bha ann an sgìre Dhruim Uachdair mar fhògarrach. Bha e air am maor fuathaichte a mharbhadh ann an Ceann an t-Sàil às dèidh dhasan an coire aig bhean Fhearchair a phùnndadh, nuair nach robh airgead aice airson a’ mhàil. Seo againn cuid de na cuspairean as cumanta ann an òrain Ghàidhlig – gaol, cianalas, nàdar. Tha an sneachd domhainn gun chrìoch san sgìre choigreach, is sin a’ nochdadh a-rithist ‘s a-rithist mar shèist, mar iomhaigh fhaireachdainn, a’ smaoineachadh air na tha e ag ionndrainn.
Ri chluinntinn air YouTube le Julie Fowlis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EMAXj_WlrY
No air Spotify le Kathleen Macinnes no James Graham. https://open.spotify.com/search/Sneachd%20air%20Druim%20Uachdair
No air Facebook le Raonaid Walker: https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1294251945091806
Tha sneachd air Druim Uachdair
‘S gann nach gabhainn an t-eagal
Ro aon mhac breabadair beò
Mharbhainn feòil dhut is sitheann
Latha nach figheadh an clò.
Mharbhainn feòil dhuit is sitheann
Latha nach figheadh an clò
Bheirinn fèidh thar na monaidh
‘S bheirinn bric às na lòin.
Bheirinn fèidh thar na monaidh
‘S bheirinn bric as na lòin
Leis an t-sneachd bhiodh air m’ fheusaig
‘S gann gu lèir dhomh mo bhròg.
Leis an t-sneachd bhiodh air m’ fheusaig
‘S gann gu lèir dhomh mo bhròg
‘S gann gu lèir dhomh nas fhaisg orm
Na lorg a’ bhat’ tha nam dhòrn.
‘S gann gu lèir dhomh nas fhaisg orm
Na lorg a’ bhat’ tha nam dhòrn
Tha sneachd air Druim Uachdair
Far ‘n robh mi cualach nam bò.
Tha sneachd air Druim Uachdair
Far ‘n robh mi cualach nam bò
‘S ann do nighean fear Donnchaidh
A thug mi ‘n tromaghaol ‘s mi òg.
There’s snow on Dumochter
Here’s a lovely song for you, appropriate for December, about winter and love, the story of a young man, Fearchar MacIain Òig, who was in the Drumochter area as a fugitive. He had killed the hated factor in Kintail after he had confiscated Fearchar’s wife’s kettle when she didn’t have money for the rent. Here we have some of the most common themes in Gaelic song – love, longing and nature. The deep, endless snow in the strange district, repeated again and again like a chorus, is an image of his feelings, thinking of all that he’s missing.
Listen on YouTube to Julie Fowlis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EMAXj_WlrY
Or on Spotify to Kathleen MacInnes or James Graham. https://open.spotify.com/search/Sneachd%20air%20Druim%20Uachdair
Or on Facebook to Rachel Walker: https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1294251945091806
Translation (without all the repetitions)
There’s snow on Drumochter
I would hardly fear one living son of a weaver –
I would kill meat for you, and venison,
On a day when the cloth would not be woven.
I would bring deer from the moor, and trout from the pools.
With the snow on my beard I can hardly see my shoe.
I can hardly see anything closer to me than the trace of the walking-stick in my fist.
There’s snow on Drumochter where I herded the cattle;
And it’s Duncan’s daughter I first fell heavily in love with when I was young.
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Dealbhan / Images
- Stuart Meek, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
- Russel Wills / The jaws of Drumochter Pass, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
