'Ic Iain 'Ic Sheumais
( Traditional arr.R.MacDonald )
 
A Mhic Iain 'Ic Sheumais
Tha do sgeul air m'aire
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Latha Blar a' Cheithe
Bha feum air mo leanamh
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Latha Blar a' Cheithe
Bha feum air mo leanamh,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Latha Blar na Feitheadh
Bha do leine na ballan,
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Latha Blar na Feitheadh
Bha do leine na ballan,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Bha fuil do chuim chubhraidh
A drudhadh ro'n anart,
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Bha fuil do chuim chubhraidh
A drudhadh ro'n anart,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Bha fuil do chuirp uasail
Air uachdair gach fearainn,
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Bha fuil do chuirp uasail
Air uachdair gach fearainn,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Cuma nach do ghabh thu am bristeadh
Latha ligeadh na fala ?
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Bho 'n latha thug thu an cuan ort
Bha gruaim air na beannaibh,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Bha snigh air na speuran
'S bha na reultan galach,
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Nam biodh agam curaidh
Gun cuirinn air chuan i,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Fiach a faighinn naidheachd
No brath an duin uasail,
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
A Mhic Iain 'Ic Sheumais
Tha do sgeul air m'aire,
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
Latha Blar a' Cheithe
Bha feum air mo leanamh,
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 Translation
 
Son of Iain , Son of Seumas
Son of Iain,son of Seumas
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
News of you weighs heavy
The Day of the Battle of the Ceith
my nursling was needed
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
The Day of the Battle of the Ceith
my nursling was needed
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
The Day of the Battle of the Runnel
Your shirt was blotted
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
The Day of the Battle of the Runnel
Your shirt was blotted
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
The blood of your sweet bosom
Was soaking through the linen
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
The blood of your sweet bosom
Was soaking through the linen
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
The blood of your noble body
On the surface of the country
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
The blood of your noble body
On the surface of the country
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
How were you not broken
On the day of the blood-letting?
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Since the day you took to the ocean
darkness has lain on the mountains
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
The skies look gloomly
The stars have grown murky
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
If I had a coracle
I'd put it on the ocean
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
To try and get tidings
Or word of the noble
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho
 
Son of Iain,son of Seumas
News of you weighs heavy
Air fa ra ra lo,air fa ra ra lo
The Day of the Battle of the Ceith
my nursling was needed
A hi eile fe o hiri si bho horo hu o
Fal eile bho hiri si bho ho fal eile bho

Note
The Battle of Carnish in North Uist, in 1601, was part of a feud between the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan (Siol Tormaid) and the MacDonalds of Sleat, whose lands included North Uist. The victorious MacDonalds were led by Dòmhnall MacIain MhicSheumais (who was still alive in 1656), said to have been brought up by his foster-mother, NicCoiseam, in Eriskay. He was wounded at the battle, and one of many traditions says that the song (a waulking song) was composed extempore by NicCoiseam and a company of women, as she pulled the arrows from his body. Blar a' Cheithe and Blar na Feitheadh are both probably alternative designations of the battle itself.

taken from : Gair nan Clarsach-The Harp's Cry , Colm O'Baoill
 
Accoding to Capercaille
This song celebrates a battle between the Macdonalds and Macleods at Carnish, North Uist in 1601. The composer it is said was moved to poetry by the death throes of the young Macdonald chieftain, and sang to drown out the latter's moans as his life's blood seeped through his linen shirt and drenched the ground.
It was a peculiarity of the gaels of Ireland and Scotland that love - love, sudden and threatening - when destroyed by death did not diminish with the passage of time. Rather, if the dull-hammer blows of fate were properly mourned and unbridled expression given to grief, love becomes a bitter kind of birth.
 
The fighting between the MacLeods and the MacDonalds saw many battles fought all over the islands. This song concerns the Battle Of Carnish, North Uist, in 1601. Some place names still exist today and have not been translated... e.g. Feitheadh Fala was the site of the the Battle of Feitheadh or Blar na Feitheadh (Blar meaning battle).

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