Mo Nighean Dubh
My Black-Haired Maid
Key of F
Moderatoa

        Mo | nighean dubh, tha | bòidheach dubh,  Mo  |
           |                   |                    1 |
      . l  | d ., r   :m   . r | m   ., s   :l   . d  |
         1 |                   |                      |
    -------|-------------------|----------------------|
           |                   |                      |
           | nighean dubh, na  | tréig     mi;   Ged  |
           | d  ., m  :m  . r  | m          :l   . l  |
           |                   |              1     1 |
       ____|-------------------|----------------------|
      |                        |                      |
      |    theireadh  càch gu  | bheil thu dubh,  Cho |
      |                        |              1       |
      |    d  .,  r   :m   . r | m  .   s   :d   . l  |
      |                        |                      |
      |------------------------|----------------------|
      |                        |                      |
      |  geal 's an gruth leam | féin thu.            |
      |                        |                      |
      |  s  ., m    :m    . r  | d     :d .           |
      |                        |                      |
      =================================================


        Moch | là  Coinneal anns | a mhadainn,  'M  |
             |        1          |                  |
        .m   | l .,  d  : t . s  | l . t  : l  . s  |
             |                   |                  |
             |-------------------|------------------|
             | leaba  's mi  gun | éirigh,   Gu'm   |
             |       1           |                  |
             | l ., d  :t   . s  | l :l .    . t    |
             |                   |                  |
          |----------------------|------------------|
          | fa - cas  òigh  an   | taice rium, 'S a |
          |   1                  |         1        |
          |  d ., l   : s   . s  |  l .t :d    . l  |
          |                      |                  |
          |----------------------|------------------|
          |gnùis ro dhreachmhor, | ceutach          |
          | s  ., m   :m   . r   | d   :d .         |
          |______________________|__________________|
Mo nighean dubh, tha bòidheach dubh,
Mo nighean dubh, na tréig mi;
Ged theireadh càch gu bheil thu dubh,
Cho geal 's an gruth leam féin thu.
 
Moch là coinneal anns a' mhadainn,
'M leaba 's mi gun éirigh,
Gu'm facas òigh an taice rium,
'S a gnùis ro dhreachmhor, ceutach.
 
Toisichidh mi aig do chasan,
Chum do mhaise 'leughadh;-
Di-dòmhnuich a' dol an chlachan,
Bean do dhreach cha léir dhomh.
 
Thig stocaidh gheal air rogha dealbha
Air do chalpa glè-gheal;
Brògan barra-chumh'nn, 's bùcaill airgid -
Oigh air dhealbh na gréin' thu!
 
Seang chorp fallain, mar shneachd meallain,
No mar chanach sléibhte;
Mar fhaoileag chladaich, ri là gaillin,
Air chuan mara 'g éirigh.
 
'S math thug gùn 's an fhasan duit,
Cho math 's a tha 'n Dun-eideann,
Mu d' mheadhon caol 'g a theannachadh,
'S a chamhanaich 's tu 'g éirigh.
 
Do shùilean mar na dearcagan,
Do ghruaidh air dhath na céire,
Cùl do chinn air dhreach an fhithich,
'S gradh mo chridhe fhéin ort.
 
Sùil chorrach ghorm fo d' chaol mhala
Bho'n tig an sealladh éibhinn,
Mar dhealt camhanaich 's an earrach,
'S mar dhriùchd meala chéitein.
 
Tha falt dubh, dualach, trom, neo-luaidhte,
'N ceangal sguaib air m' euchdaig;
Gur bòidheach e mu d' chluasaibh,
'S cha mheas' an cuailein bréid e.
 
Cha dèan mi tuilleadh molaidh ort-
O, 's tu mo rogha céile!
'S ann ort a tha 'n cùl fàinneagach,
Mar sud 's am bràighe glé-gheal.
 
'S olc a rinn do chàirdean orm
'S gu 'n d' rinn iad pàirt ort fein d' e,
'N uair chuir iad ás an dùthaich mi,
'S mi 'n dùil gu'n dèanainn feum duit.
 
'S ged nach dèanainn fìdhleireachd,
Gu 'n deanainn sgriobhadh 's leughadh,
'S a nàile! dhèanainn searmoin duit
Nach talaicheadh neach fo 'n ghréin oirr'.

Sun, 29 Aug 93 20:34:18 GMT
Back in April, I was asking of any sources for a song "Mo Nighean Dubh". There was one version which Trueman Matheson had posted in the lessons last year that Marion Gunn noted. I later found that my Gaelic Teacher, Sam MacLean had a copy of it in the Celtic Garland. Well, neither of them had all the verses. This was sung by the Barra MacNeils, at the tribute to the North British Society at the Rebecca Cohn Theatre in Halifax April 4.
 
This summer, I was visiting my uncle in Sydney and took an afternoon to go out to the Beaton Institute, which is part of the University College of Cape Breton. They have a tremendous resource in Gaelic material, both literature and songs. After checking out this material and not finding the song I wanted, I was browsing through some of the rest of the material. Lucky me!
 
Among the collections available there, are the bound editions of the Gaelic Newspaper, MacTalla. This was a locally produced newspaper from around the turn of the century and was published until the 1930's I believe. I didn't spot anything but later saw an index to the various volumes. Glancing at each page was interesting but something caught my eye and I had to go back a couple of pages.
 
IT WAS! Mo Nighean Dubh was listed as a song in one of the editions. Holding my breath in case it was not the same song or else was incomplete, I grabbed the relevant volume from the shelf and turned the yellowed pages anxiously! Glancing down the pages in case I missed it, I finally found the page I needed. ELEVEN! verses were printed in this newspaper. The issue was dated August 23, 1901, Volume 10 number 8.
 
I've incorporated *A* tune, as shown in the Celtic Garland. The Garland had both standard music notation and something called sol-fa notation. I'm no musician but I've attempted to recreate what the sol-fa notation looked like. The superscript and subscript I've shown as a number 1, either below or above the line immediately following the note it is part of. I don't know what all the periods, commas or semi-colons are doing, but I think it's close to what the original shows.
 
In the first version, which Trueman posted last year the first verse had a word, Coinneal. However, the spelling of the word Coinneal is given as Coinnle in the newspaper. Someone told me this was an event from the Church Calendar, Candlemas, which I was not familiar with. I had taken it for Day Candle, in combination with the preceding word. This would have referred to the candle used to mark the time of day. I've added to the various accents so I hope it's not missing any now. If anyone has any comments, conclusions and translations I would welcome them. I've been playing with trying to translate it but much of it seems to be idiomatic so I've not attempted one here.

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