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:
Canntaireachd:
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/32007/1
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
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