“Beinn a' Cheathaich”
Description
Scots Gaelic. (The singer, gathering sheep, looks out and sees) (McNeil's) galley head for Kismul. (Those aboard are listed). The ship (survives a rough passage to) arrive at the castle, where there is joy and feasting
Notes
N. A. M. Rodger's _The Safeguard of the Sea_, p. 290, links this song to events of the reign of Elizabeth I: "Ruari Og MaNeill of Barra made a career of piracy... Throughout Elizabeth's reign the 'Galleys of Kisimul' (still celebrated in Gaelic folksong) raided the length of the Irish Sea as far south as the Bristol Channel."
I can see no hints of this in either the Kennedy or Kennedy-Frasier versions, though the two versions are very distinct. - RBW
Recordings
- Flora MacNeil, "Beinn a' Cheathaich" (on FSB6)
References
- Kennedy 2, "Beinn a' Cheathaich (The Misty Mountain") (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
- Kennedy-Fraser I, pp. 80-83, "Kishmul's Galley (A' Bhirlinn Bharrach)" (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
- BI, K002