Marbhrann do Sheòrdag – en

This song was composed by John Stewart from Coll, Lewis. He composed the song as if he was Seòrdag’s husband. Seòrdag was the first wife of John MacIver (Am Peel). She died young, leaving three young children. One of the children, Kate MacDonald – or ‘Katie Peel’ – was the grandmother of a girl I knew in school. This song, as well as others John composed, is in an old booklet no longer in print.

Lyrics

Oh, I wish at the moment
That I had a talent for poetry,
So that I could tell my relations
About the pain in my heart,
As I mourn my loving wife
Whom death has taken from me in Time;
I won’t see you in this wilderness,
My dearest, who I love so much.

I am so stricken now,
You left me when I was but young,
When my love for you was so strong,
Like arrows in my flesh.
I’m now in this wilderness
Like one lost in the mist,
My eyes are failing me
As they drown in my tears.

Your appearance was so elegant
And your figure stood so straight;
Your cheeks were as the rowan berry
And your two eyes kind and blue.
Golden, curly locks,
Your hair was without a flaw,
And there was kindliness in your face
That spoke of your gentleness.

Oh, how young I gave you my love
And that will never die,
Although I suppose with time
It may become less intense as it does for others;
For, if I don’t get some respite,
My health will suffer
And who will look after my orphans,
If I am not there to work for them?

Oh how pained I am now
Looking after your children who are so delicate,
When I hear them crying
They rend my heart so much.
The shield who used to warm them
Has left them in this temporal world,
The place is now desolate for me
Though my family is by my side.

Oh, I wish that my melancholy
Would subdue me to my knees,
Where I would ask for mercy
And a marriage that is so near,
That death will never sever eternally
No matter the troubles we face:
Give me help in my trial
To be seeking you as I ought.