Play recording: Thugamar Féin an Samhradh Linn
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- Teideal (Title): Thugamar Féin an Samhradh Linn.
- 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.
Bhí mise ‘s óigbhean lá gabháil an bóthar
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Cé chasfaí dhúinn ach an gruagach cróga1
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Samhradh, samhradh, bainne na ngamhna
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Samhradh, samhradh, bainne na ngamhna
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Is iomadh sin bó ag dhul thar chlaí teorann
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Ag tógáil seilbhe ar sheilbh na gcomharsan
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Samhradh, samhradh, bainne na ngamhna
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Samhradh, samhradh, bainne na ngamhna
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn
Translation
Myself and a young woman were one day walking the road, we brought the summer with us
Whom should we meet but the lively gremlin, we brought the summer with us
Summer, summer, the milk of the calves, we brought the summer with us
Summer, summer, the milk of the calves, we brought the summer with us
It’s many a cow that’s gone over the boundary wall, we brought the summer with us
taking possession of the neighbours’ pasture, we brought the summer with us
Summer, summer, the milk of the calves, we brought the summer with us
Summer, summer, the milk of the calves, we brought the summer with us
Notes
1. What Joe actually says is an gruagaire róga, which makes no sense. Amhráin Mhuighe Sheóla gives these words as an Gruagach Cródha, which have not been translated, but which roughly means ‘the lively giant’ (or perhaps an ogre, goblin, brownie, or an uncouth, hairy person). The word Joe says – gruagaire – is the term used nowadays for a hairdresser – hardly likely, in the circumstances. In the only other recording he made of this song, Joe translates the phrase for Jim Cowdery as ‘the town gossip’ (UW 850112). Given the circumstances – and depending upon who the young woman was – the young man in the song might have preferred a hairy gremlin.
Donal O’Sullivan writes that this song has been connected to ‘pastoral May Day ceremonies’ and that the air, which first appears in written form in 1745, ‘is doubtless of considerable antiquity.’ He goes on to report that ‘reliable tradition says that the song was sung as a welcome to the Duke of Ormonde when he landed as Lord Lieutenant after the Restoration (July, 1662). Versions of the words have survived in the Irish-speaking districts until the present day, and one of the last of the learned poets David Ó Bruadair (c 1625-1697), alludes to the song twice in one of his poems’ (Songs of the Irish, Dublin, 1960, p. 3).
Further verses can be found in Eibhlín Bean Uí Choisdealbha, Amhráin Mhuighe Sheóla: Traditional Songs from Galway and Mayo (1923), 67-9. It’s not clear whether Joe would have heard this song at home or not; natives of Carna, consulted during 2010, say that they learned it ‘from the nuns’ at school.
This was recorded while Joe was Artist in Residence at University of Washington.