An t-Iorram Niseach – en

I got this song from Mary Smith when I was writing my dissertation. I decided that I wanted to learn it and perform it as part of my final university examination using a tune I learned from Ishbel T MacDonald.

Lyrics

You row, Kenneth dearest
Nèill a mhic ’s na hò rò
You are the darling of young women
Nèill a mhic ’s na hò rò
Hè rò, hò rò.

There’s a great fear in my heart
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That Neil’s galley is approaching
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I will row with the strength of two
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And if I had to, with the strength of three
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A shame that Sallow Neil and I were not
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In a small hollow above Dun Othail
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A dagger in my hand with Neil below me
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I would ensure it would pierce so deeply
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That blood from his chest would run to his loins
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And that meat and game meat would be made
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And that there may be food for the raven’s beak
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I have yet to do harm or injury
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Apart from felling deer on the slope
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Or a seal in a narrow channel
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Or black cormorant by the sea
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I can now see appearing on the horizon
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The tip of Point and the stack-yard at Aird
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Where my kinsfolk were destroyed
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