Another Old Style, and an Irish Zombie

Another blog entry discussed an old style of singing  that at the beginning of the 20th century characterized Muscrai, County Cork (general Macroom area and west) and the Uibh Rathach (Ivreagh) peninsula west from there to the ocean.

Another distinct style was that of Corca Dhuibhne (Dingle peninsula), and that's what I'm on about here.

It's a very un-ornamented plain style, and very different from the Muscrai/Uibh rathach style of singing. Sean O Riada, in his book Our Musical Heritage, described it this way: "Since the local people have generally forgotten the intricacies of variation, they tend to compensate for the loss by singing the songs rather too slowly, getting the utmost value from each note....The glottal stop still survives, together with uncontrolled nasalization." (p. 39) He suggests that this came about because the locals listened to too many Irish learners (and there have been hordes of them going the area since 1900) who didn't know how to sing.

I doubt it was actually the visitors who are responsible for the style. Corca Dhuibhne people today have a healthy contempt for visitors, and I don't think that the earlier versions of the hordes who still go there today looking for Irish language or scenery or picturesque towns and dolphins would have moved the big local population to change the way they sang. 

The contrast between the two styles does reflect a fairly old political and therefore social divide, though. In the Middle Ages, Corca Dhuibhne was part of the Mac Gearailt (FitzGerald) Desmond lordship that also included north Kerry, most of Limerick, southeast Cork and west Waterford, as well as far southwestern Tipperary. (It's purple/blue on the map below.)

Musgrai and Uibh Rathach, on the other hand,  were both part of the cluster of kingdoms that are associated with the Irish dynasty that preceded the Anglo-Norman FitzGeralds. West and Central Cork and south Kerry are rougher lands than what the FitzGeralds conquered, and the MacCarthys and O Sullivans turned back FitzGerald attacks long enough for the FitzGeralds to lose interest in conquest, and to become very Irish themselves. 

I'm not saying these styles characterized the two kingdoms--only that, since social relations were stronger within the respective kingdoms than without for a few hundred years, localized developments in culture are sure to have come forward.

This is an RTE tape from the 1960s of Padraig Aghas singing in a pub. There is no prize for identifying the zombie who also appears. This may be the first one ever caught on film, predating the movies by at least a decade.

It used to be common practice for a person who particularly liked a song being sung, or for a friend of the singer, to rotate hands in the way the guy does here. Considering how drunk he appears, he does a commendable job of maintaining directional precision.

This is a very local Corca Dhuibhne song. It's probably not very old, and isn't included in Duanaire Duibhneach, Sean O Dubhda's 1932 collection of  19th and early 20th century Corca Dhuibhne poetry and song. It is not mentioned in Tomas Mac Sithigh's book Paroiste an Fhirtearaigh as one of the better-known local songs. It's a good example of something put together by someone who didn't make many songs (I'd say); an example of a song that didn't achieve the wider currency that, over years, often honed other songs into strikingly effective ones, as drab and less effective phrases and lines dropped out and newer better ones were put in their place by generations of singers.

The TG4 Cartlann Sean-Nos/Sean Nos Archive has some videos of contemporary singers from the area. Sean de hOra is generally considered the greatest late 20th century singer. He was never filmed, that I know of, but he recorded a record for Gael-Linn in the late 1970s, Bean Dubh a' Ghleanna. Below, Eilin ni Chearna and Aine Ni Laoithe sing another song closely connected with the area; Raghad-sa agus Mo Cheaiti ag Bhalcaireacht..

The original words and my quick and literal translation of the zombie song follow. I'm taking the original words from the TG4 Amhrain Is Ansa Liom site, correcting a few minor typos.

I've translated as though the title is "An Baile Ata Laimh le Siud,", though some versions say "An Baile Ata Laimh Lei Siud,"  --The Village That Is Near to Her Over There."

Nárbh aoibhinn a bheith ag féachaint na mbánta, 

'gus mise gach lá dá siúl.

nó ag fiach 's ag aoireacht na mbán stoc, 

ar shléibhte go hard gan smál. 

Eanlaithe na craoibh ghlas ba bhreátha 

's lad ag seinm go hard sa dtiúin, 

Ó is trua an croí bheith ag fágaint

an baile atá láimh le siúd.

Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth, 

Is an captaen go hard ar stiúir, 

chun mise do bhreith thar sáile

go dtí talamh an Oileáin Úir.

Faraor is dubhach an croí is tráth-lag 

bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún 

mar ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé 

ar an mbaile atá láimh le siúd.

Faraor taim dicéarach cráite 

bheith ag scarúint go brách lem' rún 

ag tabhairt aghaidh ar rinn is ar fhásaigh 

's ar mhachairí breátha romham, 

ag tréigint mo chúilfhionn pháirteach 

's a Mhuire nach ghránna an tsiúl

mar ní thiteann ann sneachta ná báisteach

ar an mbaile atá láimh le siúd.

Guím beannacht gheal na ngrást libh

a bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú! 

's chun cúrsaí fada na trá siar

mar gur minic mé ag snámh go súch

nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain

mar ba thapúla mo rás ná cú. 

Ó b'fhearr liom a bheith beo bocht i mo sclábhaí, 

ar an mbaila ata laimh le siud.

Isn't it wonderful to look at the lea lands

each day as I walk them,

or hunting, or herding the (dairy?) stock,

on the clear high mountains.

The birds of the most beautiful green trees

and they singing high above me their notes.

It's a heartbreak to be departing from

the village that's near those things.

The ship is under full sail

and the captain there at the wheel,

to carry me over the seas

to the land of the New Island (North America.)

My heart is sorrowful and weary

to be parting forever from my love,

for I will never be seen returning

to the village that's near those things.

I am miserable and harried

to be parting forever from my love,

turning my face to the headlands and wildernesses

and to fine level lands out before me,

going away from my faithful dear love;

and Mary Mother, isn't it a miserable going away

from the village that's near those things.

I pray bright blessing of grace on you,

and Up boys of the Island!

and to the paths of the strand there,

where I often swam content;

or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin

where my course was swifter than the hounds.

I'd prefer to be a poor farm laborer forever

in the village that's near those things.

Slaine Ni Chathalain sings a bilingual song; Irish/Chinese. (Just joking.)