Óró, a Bhuachaillín, Seol do Bhó

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  • Teideal (Title): Óró, a Bhuachaillín, Seol do Bhó.
  • Uimhir Chatalóige Ollscoil Washington (University of Washington Catalogue Number): 781504.
  • Uimhir Chnuasach Bhéaloideas Éireann (National Folklore of Ireland Number): none.
  • Uimhir Roud (Roud Number): none.
  • Uimhir Laws (Laws Number): none.
  • Uimhir Child (Child Number): none.
  • Cnuasach (Collection): Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.
  • Teanga na Croímhíre (Core-Item Language): Irish.
  • Catagóir (Category): song.
  • Ainm an té a thug (Name of Informant): Joe Heaney.
  • Ainm an té a thóg (Name of Collector): Esther Warkov.
  • Dáta an taifeadta (Recording Date): 06/03/1978.
  • Suíomh an taifeadta (Recording Location): University of Washington, United States of America.
  • Ocáid an taifeadta (Recording Occasion): interview.
  • Daoine eile a bhí i láthair (Others present): unavailable.
  • Stádas chóipcheart an taifeadta (Recording copyright status): unavailable.

JH: And then, you said, about children, they going to school… the little songs we used to sing?

EW: Oh, right, yeah.

JH: In a circle, holding hands, you know, in the playground – whatever you call it, it’s an old playground – they used to be singing, you know, going in under each other’s arm:

Tá fear ag gabháil soir ar Bhinn na dTor1,
Bhinn na dTor, Bhinn na dTor,
Tá fear ag gabháil soir ar Bhinn na dTor,
Maidin moch amáireach.

Óró, óró, seol do bhó,
Seol do bhó, seol do bhó,
Óró, a bhuachaillín, seol do bhó
Is cuir ar an iomaire ab fhearr é.

There’s a man going past Binn na dTor early tomorrow morning.

Oh, little herd-lad, drive your cow and put her on the best strip of land.

JH: Now, tá fear ag gabhail soir ar Bhinn na dTor – ‘there’s a man coming around the edge of the school’ – scoil is ‘school’ – and then: chaith mé mo mh- ‘ I threw my stick at an old goat, billy goat-

EW: Pardon?

JH: ‘I threw my stick at an old billy goat, and the old woman didn’t hear me’ – and he hit the woman with the stick, you know. This is it – what the children used to sing, you know.

Chaith mé mo mhaide le cúpla gabhar
Níor chuala an chailleach mar bhí sí bodhar
Sciorr mo chois agus chuaigh sí i bpoll
Is tá mo lorgnaí gearrtha.

Óró, a bhuachaillín, seol do bhó,
Seol do bhó, seol do bhó,
Óró, a bhuachaillín, seol do bhó
Is cuir ar an iomaire ab fhearr í.

I threw my stick at some goats; the old woman didn’t hear [me] because she was deaf. My foot slipped and went into a hole and I’ve cut my shins.

Oh, little herd-lad, drive your cow and put her on the best strip of land.

JH: Things like that.

Notes

1. It’s hard to make sense of the words in this recording. Therefore, the transcription contains a certain amount of educated guesswork. Binn na dTor (the bushy peak) is quite plausable as a place-name — although possibly an imaginary one, as might be found in a children’s song or rhyme. The song is not of Conamara origin.

Joe’s translation is somewhat untrustworthy. Whatever word is at the end of the first line, it certainly isn’t scoil; there is no specific mention of a billy-goat; and there is no indication that the boy hit the old woman with his stick. It could be that Joe is thinking of Dreoilín, Dreoilín, Rí na n-Éan, which uses the same air, and which contains the following stanza, in English:
As I was walking down the road
I saw a wren upon a stone
I lifted my stick, and I threw it at him
At four o’clock in the morning!

This song was recorded while Joe was Artist in Residence at University of Washington.