{"id":605,"date":"2015-10-06T14:06:19","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T13:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/oiche-nollag\/"},"modified":"2017-08-26T10:44:51","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T09:44:51","slug":"oiche-nollag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/oiche-nollag\/","title":{"rendered":"O\u00edche Nollag"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"t:seinnteoirin1\">Play recording: O\u00edche Nollag<\/h2>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-605-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/oiche-nollag.mp3?_=1\" \/><source type=\"audio\/ogg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/oiche-nollag.ogg?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/oiche-nollag.mp3\">https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/oiche-nollag.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<div class=\"dmeite\">\n<p><span id=\"neasc-nocht-ceilth\" class=\"nmeite\">view \/ hide recording details [+\/-]<\/span><\/p>\n<ul id=\"clarMeiteashonrai\" class=\"meiteashonrai\">\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Teideal <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Title)<\/span>:<\/span> O\u00edche Nollag.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Chatal\u00f3ige Ollscoil Washington <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(University of Washington Catalogue Number)<\/span>:<\/span> 781502.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Chnuasach Bh\u00e9aloideas \u00c9ireann <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(National Folklore of Ireland Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Roud <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Roud Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Laws <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Laws Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Child <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Child Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Cnuasach <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Collection)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Teanga na Cro\u00edmh\u00edre <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Core-Item Language)<\/span>:<\/span> Irish.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Catag\u00f3ir <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Category)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe&#8217;s background; song.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Ainm an t\u00e9 a thug <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Name of Informant)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe Heaney.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Ainm an t\u00e9 a th\u00f3g <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Name of Collector)<\/span>:<\/span> Esther Warkov.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">D\u00e1ta an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Date)<\/span>:<\/span> 02\/03\/1978.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Su\u00edomh an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Location)<\/span>:<\/span> University of Washington, United States of America.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Oc\u00e1id an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Occasion)<\/span>:<\/span> interview.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Daoine eile a bh\u00ed i l\u00e1thair <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Others present)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">St\u00e1das ch\u00f3ipcheart an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording copyright status)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Joe was interviewed in March, 1978, by Esther Warkov. She started by asking him how Christmas was celebrated in Carna.<\/p>\n<p>On Christmas Eve, everybody gathers together for what they call the Christmas Supper. That&#8217;s about six o&#8217;clock in the afternoon. And the old custom was fish, and potatoes, and buttermilk. It&#8217;s a fast-day, and nobody takes meat that particular day. And then at night, when the evening comes, they put two candles in each window in the house. And the story about putting the candles in the window is that the Blessed Virgin and Joseph was looking for a place to stay, and if they saw the lights, you&#8217;d guide them to the house. The door was never shut on Christmas Eve, and there was a big turf fire down, and there was food and everything left on the table, even when the people went to bed. Well, there was never any drinking after the supper. If somebody wanted a drink, they went out to the local pub and had their drink before the supper, but after it was&hellip; no [drinking]<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">1<\/sup>. Because at that time the people had to get up early in the morning to go to mass, and they had to walk four and five miles; there was no other transport at the time. And even today, with the electric power and all being around, they still put the candles in the window, and keep the old custom up. The houses are whitewashed, sanded, all sand, pure white sand around the house, welcoming the guests that comes at Christmas, you know. Everybody is in their own home. There&#8217;s nobody goes out visiting after the supper. Everybody has their own supper in their own house and all the family&#8217;s together if it&#8217;s possible, if they&#8217;re still in the vicinity.<\/p>\n<p>So it&#8217;s a pretty quiet evening?<\/p>\n<p>It really is. A quiet, dedicated evening to what&#8217;s coming. It&#8217;s a big occasion, you know.<\/p>\n<p>What happens in the evening after the supper? Is there any singing?<\/p>\n<p>They just, eh, sit around, talking about this Christmas, and then maybe the old woman or something will sing the song &#8216;The First Christmas,&#8217; the old old song in Gaelic that was sung around Christmas in her time, handed down to her by her people.<\/p>\n<p>Did your grandmother used to sing it?<\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>And she taught it to you?<\/p>\n<p>I picked it off her you know. But she wouldn&#8217;t let me sing it until I could do it justice. That was one thing about them songs, they wouldn&#8217;t let you do them unless you could do them right, and that took a long time. They were very critical, you know. But you can&#8217;t &#8211; I don&#8217;t think anyone can do justice to them songs properly. I try my best, you know, but I still like to do it a little bit better.<\/p>\n<p>So, when was the first time that you sang that particular song?<\/p>\n<p>Well, I sang it for my grandmother before she died, and she liked what I did and she said &#8216;Keep at it &#8211; you&#8217;ll be able to do it yet!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>(laughter)<\/p>\n<p>And the story is, of course, that they were going around, you see, they were refused permission to go into the hotel, and they came to the stable. And that he was born, and the three kings came. And they were all looking out the door at the fourth king that was following them, who got lost, you know, and as the other lament<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">2<\/sup> tells appeared on Calvary on Good Friday. They brought frankenstein<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">3<\/sup>, gold and myrrh. And the song says he refused them all, because he came to save people, not to be bought by them. But they was still held on and used as an example afterwards, even in the mass, on what the kings brought him.<\/p>\n<p>And then, as he grew up a little bit, he was walking with his mother one day, and she asked him, &#8216;Is this the way you&#8217;ll always be?&#8217; And he said, &#8216;No. I&#8217;ll be sold on Wednesday for thirty pieces of silver; I&#8217;ll be hunted on Thursday; and I&#8217;ll be crucified on Friday. And the drop of blood that&#8217;s in my head will be down to my toes before they finish with me.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Chuadar siar is aniar na sr\u00e1ideanna\u00ed, n\u00ed bhfuaireadar aon d\u00eddean ann<br \/>\nN\u00f3 go dt\u00e1inigdar don st\u00e1bla naofa dh\u00e1 uair\u00edn roimh l\u00e1<br \/>\nDhi\u00faltaigh an teach \u00f3sda iad a thabhairt as an sneachta<br \/>\nagus rugadh an leanbh naofa idir bull\u00e1n agus asail.<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1<br \/>\nA bh\u00f3-bh\u00f3 is a ch\u00f3-ch\u00f3<br \/>\nis ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1.<\/p>\n<p>Th\u00e1inig na tr\u00ed r\u00edthe le bronntanais\u00ed ag an leanbh<br \/>\n[Dhi\u00faltaigh t\u00fa an m\u00e9id sin,] \u00f3r bu\u00ed agus aiteas<br \/>\nDhi\u00faltaigh t\u00fa uilig an m\u00e9id sin ag s\u00e1bh\u00e1il gach peacach<br \/>\ndh\u00e1 dtiocfaidh, dh\u00e1 ndeachaigh, &#8216;s dh\u00e1 mbeidh againn feasta.<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1<br \/>\nA bh\u00f3-bh\u00f3 is a ch\u00f3-ch\u00f3<br \/>\nis ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1.<\/p>\n<p>L\u00e1 dh\u00e1 raibh an c\u00fapla ag si\u00fal lena ch\u00e9ile<br \/>\n\u00d3 d&#8217;fhiafraigh an Mhaighdean Ghl\u00f3rmhar &#8216;An mar seo a bh\u00e9as muid feasta?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;D\u00edolfar m\u00e9 D\u00e9 C\u00e9adaoin ar leath-chor\u00f3in den airgead b\u00e1n<br \/>\nAgus beidh m\u00e9 D\u00e9ardaoin do mo ruaig[eadh] ag mo n\u00e1mhaid<br \/>\nTiocfar anuas orm le ch\u00faig mh\u00edle buille<br \/>\nAgus an braon uasal is ort in uachtar<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">4<\/sup>, beidh s\u00e9 s\u00edos le mo sh\u00e1la.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1<br \/>\nA bh\u00f3-bh\u00f3 is a ch\u00f3-ch\u00f3<br \/>\nis ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1.<\/p>\n<p>They went up and down the streets, they got no shelter anywhere<br \/>\nUntil they came to the Holy Stable two hours before day.<br \/>\nThe inn refused to take them in out of the snow<br \/>\nAnd the holy infant was born between a bullock and asses.<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1&hellip;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"t:aistriuchan\">Translation<\/h2>\n<p>They went up and down the streets, they got no shelter anywhere<br \/>\nUntil they came to the Holy Stable two hours before day.<br \/>\nThe inn refused to take them in out of the snow<br \/>\nAnd the holy infant was born between a bullock and asses.<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>The three kings came, with presents for the baby<br \/>\nYou refused all of them, yellow gold and frankincense;<br \/>\nYou refused all of them, saving every sinner<br \/>\nthat will be, that has been, and that we shall ever have.<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>One day when the pair [Jesus and his Mother] were walking together<br \/>\nThe Virgin asked him &#8216;Is this how we shall be from now on?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;I shall be sold on Wednesday for a half-crown of silver;<br \/>\nAnd on Thursday I shall be hunted by my enemies.<br \/>\nI shall be smitten with five thousand blows<br \/>\nAnd the highest drop [of blood] shall be down at my heels.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1, is ailili\u00fa-le\u00e1&hellip;<\/p>\n<div class=\"n\u00f3ta\u00ed-bun-leathanaigh\">\n<h2 id=\"t:notai\">Notes<\/h2>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">1. Joe actually said, &#8216;no supper,&#8217; but the context makes clear that &#8216;no drinking&#8217; is what he meant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">2. &#8216;the other lament&#8217; i.e. either &#8216;Caoineadh na dTr\u00ed Muire&#8217; or &#8216;Amhr\u00e1n na P\u00e1ise.&#8217; In fact this fourth king is mentioned in neither of the texts of these laments that we have from Joe, although he mentions this detail on a number of occasions when talking about these religious songs. Here is how Joe told the story on another occasion:<br \/>\n&#8216;There was four kings who set out the night that Christ was born, and they saw the star. The four of them met at a certain place, and the four of them set out, but one of them got lost. And thirty-three years afterwards, he arrived at Calvary, and all he had was a bottle of water. And the bottle of water of water he handed to Christ, when he saw he was so thirsty, he handed him the water and one of the soldiers around the cross broke the bottle, and the blood from Christ&#8217;s breast fell into the bottle. And at the same time, a little bird sat on the man&#8217;s shoulder, and a drop of the blood fell on the bird&#8217;s breast. And that is how they reckon, how the robin redbreast got a red breast&hellip; And at the same time the man collapsed and died, the king, the fourth king&#8217; (UW 840115).<\/p>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">3. Joe consistently says &#8216;frankenstein&#8217; instead of &#8216;frankincense&#8217; when discussing the gifts of the three kings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">4. This line is somewhat problematical, although the last part of Joe&#8217;s story indicates what he thinks it means, i.e. that there will be no drop of blood left unspilt. In another performance the line goes: An braon uasal is c\u00f3ir a bheith in uachtar, beidh s\u00e9 s\u00edos le mo sh\u00e1la (UW 840115).<\/p>\n<p>This song was recorded while Joe was Artist in Residence at University of Washington.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culra-joe","category-amhrain","category-amhrain-i-ngaeilge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2002,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605\/revisions\/2002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}