I found this in a book that is sadly out of print now, called _Songs of the Hebrides_ by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser and Kenneth MacLeod. My friend Mayer Lipman, who played recorder on my first solo album, “Through Misty Air”, helped me arrange this in a way that preserves the feeling and intention of the lyrics.
For those following this album, the previous song was in the Scots language, a Germanic language spoken in Scotland. This song is in Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic), a Celtic language spoken in Scotland.
lyrics
A Mhór a ghaoil! A Mhór a shògh!
Till gu d’mhacan is gheabh thu’m bradan breac o’n loch.
A Mhór a shògh! Tha’n oiche nochd
Gu fliuch frasach aig mo mhacsa ri sgath chnocain.
A Mhór a ghaoil! A Mhór a shògh!
Gun teine, gun tuar, gun fhasgadh, is tu sìor chòineadh.
A Mhór a ghaoil! A Mhór a shògh!
Mo sheana-chab liath ri do bheul beag baoth is mi seinn phort dhuit am Beinn Frochdaidh.
Translation:
Mór, my love! Mór, my treasure!
Come back to your little son and you will get a speckled trout from the lake.
Mór, my darling! Tonight the night
Is wetly showering my son on the shelter of a knoll.
Mór, my love! Mór, my treasure!
Lacking fire, lacking food, lacking shelter, and you continually lamenting.
Mór, my love! Mór, my darling!
My gray, old, toothless mouth to your silly little mouth, and me singing tunes by Ben Frochkie.
From haunting Celtic lullabies, through laments of intense grief and pain, to songs of healing and hope, Caera’s music
always contains an authenticity that can be hard to find in today’s music, or even in today’s world in general. Powerful soprano vocals blend with the bell-like tones of her brass-strung Gaelic harp to create music that carries people through life, dreaming or fully awake....more
Zambian-Scottish singer-songwriter pushes back against existential despair with empassioned folk-pop that celebrates love and resilience. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 25, 2023