Total Pageviews

Tuesday 6 August 2013

General MacDonald: A Fairy Tune

In Gaelic cosmological tradition music and fairies have had a very long association. There a hundreds of anecdotes and stories of how fairies are said to have bestowed musical gifts and/or taken them away. Calum Maclean himself took an interest in fairy tradition and wrote an article upon the subject about fairy traditions that he collected from the redoubtable John MacDonald of Highbridge, Brae Lochaber. Fairy lore and traditions were once a common feature among storytellers and Calum Maclean found a great deal when collecting in the Southern Hebrides. Here, for instance, is one such tradition about a fairy tune and its origin recorded from Peter MacCormick (1891–c. 1966), styled Pàdruig mac Alasdair or Pàdruig Beag, who belonged to Hacklett, Benbecula. During the First World War he served as a piper and after demobilisation returned to Benbecula to become a crofter/postman. In addition to his musical skills, MacCormick was also a very talented storyteller and raconteur. He was married to Kate MacCormick née MacPhee styled Catrìona styled Catriona nighean ’illeasbuig Ghriomasaigh who had an extensive repertoire of Gaelic song. The following entitled Port Sìdhe (‘A Fairy Tune’) was recorded on the 4th of April 1950:
 
Bha dithis thall às an Àird Fhada agus bha iad a’ falbh a Mhuileann na Buaile Glaiseadh thall faisg air an eaglais sin ann an Cnoc Fraochaig. Agus bha iad a’ falbh e bleith air oidhche. Agus thall air a’ mhuileann ann a shineach, bha e air a chantail gun robh sìdhean ann, Sìthean na Buaile Glaise. Dh’fhalbh iad co-dhiù dhan mhuileann agus nuair a bha iad a’ tilleadh, chuala iad an Sìdhean ag obair agus fear a’ gabhail phort ann. Agus ’s e am port a bha e a’ gabhail, tha e coltach – ’s ann mar seo a bha e a’ dol:
 
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Ithinn deila is gorra-ghrithich,
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Mac a’ bhodachain marbh.
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Ithinn deila is gorra-ghrithich,
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Mac a’ bhodachain marbh.
Ithinn deila, othinn deila,
Ithinn deila is gorra-ghrithich,
Ithinn deila, othinn deila,
Mac a’ bhodachain marbh.
Iod
Iod
Id odaran o ro,
Iu bhil sodaran,
Id odaran o ro,
Is dithis a chur leis air falbh
Mac a’ bhodachain marbh.
Id odaran o ro,
Iu bhil sodaran,
Id odaran o ro,
Is dithis a chur leis air falbh.
 
Nuair a chuala à-san seo tharrainn iad cho luath is a rinn iad riamh is chuir iad a-staigh na dorsan rompa agus chan fhacas duine a’ tighinn as an deaghaidh. Agus sin mar a bh’ air fhàgail a chuala iad am port a bha as an t-sìdhean. Is dhealaich mise rithe sin.
 
[Tha am port seo air a sheinn aig Lachlann Bàn MacCarmaig agus e air a chur sìos air fhitean Eidifiòn. General Macdonald an t-ainm a th’ air’ phort. Calum MacGilleathain.]  
 
There were two men over in Àird Fhada and they were leaving to go over to Muileann na Buaile Glaiseadh near the church in Cnoc Fraochaig. They were leaving to get grain at night. And over by the mill they say there is a fairy mound, Sìthean na Buaile Glaise (‘The Fairy Mound of the Green Cattle Fold’). They set off in any event to the mill and when returning they heard something from the Fairy Mound and one of them was singing a tune. And the tune that he was singing, it appears, went like this:
 
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Ithinn deila and a heron,
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Son of the little old man is dead.
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Ithinn deila and a heron,
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Son of the little old man is dead.
Ithinn deila, othinn deila,
Ithinn deila and a heron,
Ithinn deila, othinn deila,
Son of the little old man is dead.
Iod
Iod
Id odaran o ro,
Iu bhil sodaran,
Id odaran o ro,
And two men have put him away,
Son of the little old man is dead.
Id odaran o ro,
Iu bhil sodaran,
Id odaran o ro,
And two men have put him away.
 
When they heard this they fled as quickly was they had ever done and they shut the doors behind him and they didn’t see anybody coming after them. And that his how they learned the tune they heard in the fairy mound. And I parted from it.
 
[This tune was played by Lachlan Ban MacCormick and he recorded it on an Ediphone wax cylinder. General Macdonald is the name of the tune. Calum Maclean.]
 
Another version of this anecdote was recorded in 1953 by Calum’s brother, Dr Alasdair Maclean, from the same reciter. It’s not quite as detailed as the earlier version but it does show how important it is to record variations of the same material from the same reciter over a period of time, even years as in this case. Here’s the transcription and translation of this interesting anecdote:
 
Uill, bha e air a ràdh gun deachaidh triùir o chionn fada am Beinne na Faoghla gu muilleach, bha iad a’ dèanamh bleith. Agus bha iad air a ràdh seo gun robh sìthean ann aig a…am muillean ghlas. Agus air a bha dithist a bha sin a’ dol seachad chuala iad port às an t-sìthein. Agus ’s e am port a bha iad a’ gabhail…tha e air a ràdh gur h-ann mar sin a bha e a’ dol:
 
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Ithinn deila is gorra-ghrithich,
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Mac a’ bhodachain marbh.
Id odaran o ro,
Iu bhil sodaran,
Id odaran o ro,
Is dithist a chur leis air falbh.
 
Agus bha an dithist às a sineach agus thill iad cho luath is bha iad riamh dhachaigh agus iad air an clisgeadh agus smaoinich iad gur h-e iad fhèin a bha a’ cur air falbh leis a’ bhodachain agus sin mar a chuala mise an stòraidh agus chan eil ann ach stòraidh bhig.
 
Well, it is said that three men a long time ago in Benbecula went to a mill, they were getting the grain ground. And they say here that there is a fairy-hill at Muilean Glas. And when two of them were going by they heard a tune from the fairy-hill. And the tune that they were playing…it’s said that it went something like this:
 
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Ithinn deila and a heron,
Ithinn deila othinn deila,
Son of the little old man is dead,
Id odaran o ro,
Iu bhil sodaran,
Id odaran o ro,
And two men have put him away.
 
And the two men got out of there and they returned home as quickly as they could as they were shaken with fright for they thought it was they who were going to be put away by the little old man and that is how I heard the story but it’s just a wee story.
 
It’s intriguing to note that the tune was recorded by Lachlan Bàn MacCormick and it’s very much hoped that the wax cylinder recording made by Calum Maclean remains extant and will be discovered at some future point. Why the reel became known as General MacDonald appears not to be known but Peter MacCormick gave a good version of it in canntaireachd which is available to hear on the Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches website. Some sources attribute the reel’s composition to Neil Gow (1727–1807), the famous Perthshire fiddler and composer.
 
References:
NFC 1181: 114–115. Courtesy of Cnuasach Bhéaloideas Éireann, Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath / National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin
 
Image:
Peter MacCormick, 1960s. Courtesy of the School of Scottish Studies Archives

No comments:

Post a Comment