Gaelic Lullabies

Songs for more than just putting babies to sleep - they were a way women talked about politics and their most secret hopes and fears.

Gaelic lullabies, or tàlaidhean, were for comforting children and helping them sleep. But they had another side to them. At a time when some forms of poetry such as political or panegyric were considered the domain of male poets, they were a place for women to candidly share their views, their politics and their feelings.

In this post :

• Read the Gaelic version of this post - Tàlaidhean

• Scottish Gaelic Lullabies - “A picture that is far from idyllic”

• Griogal Cridhe - A Gaelic Clockwork orange

• Extracts from lullabies collected by Margaret Fay Shaw

• Frances Tolmie - Collector of Gaelic lullabies

• Òran tàlaidh na Mnà-sìthe - The Song of the Fairy Woman

• BBC ALBA documentary on Gaelic lullabies - trailer

Scottish Gaelic Lullabies - “A picture that is far from idyllic”

I was reading Margaret Fay Shaw’s book Folksongs and Folklore of South Uist, and I saw a lovely wee lullaby, one of many she collected.

O bà, o bà, o bà o ì
I won’t rock you to sleep,
as you’ve completely done my head in.

Gaelic lullabies can be raw. They were a way for women to talk to each other, they were a way to make statements, talk abut politics, share emotions, share hopes and fears. Tàlaidhean were also a child’s introduction to social norms and what was desirable in the culture.

The Gaelic poet Anne Frater told me that they let women deal with subjects and styles of song that they weren’t ‘officially’ supposed to. It was expected that they would compose laments, work songs and lullabies. They weren’t allowed near panegyric or political poems. That was reserved for male poets.

But if it were in a tàladh, a lullaby, they could praise a family. They could hope for a child’s future, they could make it political. They could say what they wanted, but staying within the rules.

Anne said that these songs would only be heard amongst women, and it was women who kept them going, as well as keeping them private from those who might not agree with their views.

Barbara Hillers’ paper in Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig - Dialogue or Monologue? Lullabies in Scottish Gaelic tradition is very worth a read. She says:

If we examine the traditional folk lullaby… we encounter a picture that is far from idyllic. Many oral-traditional lullabies deal with unhappiness, loss, violence, and death. The singers often give vent to feelings that are less than loving: frustration, anger and aggression. The phenomenon of violent subject matter in the lullaby should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Scottish Gaelic tradition.

Although “most lullabies are marked by lavish expressions of affection”, Hillers has examples from other languages showing similar feelings. Here is one in Italian:

Rock-a-bye rock-a-bye
What patience it takes
I’m going to knock you against the dresser!

To balance this out, the Italian version of inch-wincy spider has the spider running back to its mother at the end. Which a screenwriter would call ‘on the nose’. But one thing I love is that the wee spider is called ‘whisky ragnetto’.

Griogal Cridhe - A Gaelic Clockwork Orange

Let’s look at Griogal Chridhe - Gregor of my Heart - which was written in 1570 and is still extremely popular. It was a woman talking to her baby about her husband Gregor MacGregor, who was executed by the Campbells. (This one doesn’t appear in Fay Shaw’s collection.)

My heart is sore, darling
your father won’t hear our crying
They put his head on an oak stake
And they spilled his blood
If I had had a cup
I would have drunk my fill of it.

Songs were powerful. The poet Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh showed that, banished for praising a chief’s brother too much. In the 16th and 17th century, it was an oral culture. As Ann Frater put it, a song would spread quicker than a letter. Some were used as a message. They could be decoded.

The fact that a poem could be transmitted, kept alive and still be a popular song today, shows how strong the transmission of them was.

Extracts from lullabies collected by Margaret Fay Shaw

Hillers talks about lullabies as being an unusual genre, and “an unusual performance context”.

While it is often classed with children’s songs, it cannot be stressed
enough that the lullaby is an adult composition, a song for. not by, a child. In
fact, as we shall argue, it may well be composed for the mother as much as
the child.

Plenty of the lullabies collected by Margaret Faye Shaw hold true to this statement. For example O Bà, mo leanabh, o bà, o bà contains the line “My child unbaptised and myself in want.”

Here are other extracts:

Bà, bà, mo leanabh beag - Sleep my little child

What, my love, will I do for you,
For I have no milk for you?
I am worried you will get the croup
the potatoes have rotted

Another called Dèan Cadalan (Try and sleep)

Try and sleep love of mine
Although I find it hard to sing you to sleep,
your father says that you aren’t his.

Frances Tolmie - Collector of Gaelic lullabies

Frances Tolmie was the other great collector of Gaelic lullabies. She was born in 1840 on the Isle of Skye.

She collected a great many lullabies on the island. They came to her ‘gun sireadh, gun iarradh’ - ‘without looking them out, without asking.’ They were in the air. (Acair Books have published a book about her using the same phrase.)

It was probably much the same for Margaret Faye Shaw. She collected the songs which were around her, songs connected to work, rituals and children. And they are a fascinating, live and revealing body of work.

As Anne Frater put it, without these two collectors, many of them would have been lost. Barbara Hillers confirmed this. Whilst helping me during the research period of the documentary, she aid :

The remarkable fact is that at least as far as published material is concerned, the material published by those two formidable musicologists comprises the lion’s share of what can be considered as authentic Gaelic folk lullabies. It is even more remarkable that this may hold true even if we look at Gaelic lullabies in Ireland as well.

Barara also highlighted how very underserved this style of song was, and in an Irish context, how few were collected. We are lucky Margaret Fay Shaw fell in love with Gaelic music, and that we have a musicologist of the stature of Tolmie.

I’ll leave you with a treat.

Òran tàlaidh na Mnà-sìthe - The Song of the Fairy Woman

Here is one I really like - Òran tàlaidh na Mnà-sìthe, The Song of the Fairy Woman. It is connected to the Macleods of Dunvegan.

The singer Kathleen MacInnes said that if you were to work in domestic service at the Dunvegan Castle you had to learn it. The Macleods of Dunvegan were crazy for stories about the sìthe - and they of course had their ‘fairy flag’ which would always guarantee them winning a scrap.

Here is an extract (on Spotify) of Kathleen singing Òran na Mnà-sìthe, a beautiful rendition.

BBC ALBA documentary on Gaelic lullabies - trailer

The documentary isn’t available on BBC iPlayer at the moment, but there is a one minute trailer which is nice to watch again.

BBC iPlayer - Tålaidhean (Gaelic Lullabies) - Trailer

Thanks for reading.

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Gaelic Version - Tàlaidhean

Bha mi a’ leughadh an leabhair aig Margaret Fay Shaw agus thàinig mi tarsainn air na tàlaidhean a chruinnich i. Seo aon dhiubh a ghlac mo shùil.

O bà, o bà, o bà o ì
Cha bhith mi gad thàladh
Bhon shàraich thu mi.

Mụ Thàlaidhean

Rinn mi prògram telebhisean aon turas mu dheidhinn tàlaidhean agus tha’ d inntinneach sa Ghàidhlig oir chan eil iad idir dìreach airson clann a chur a chadal.

‘S e dòigh-conaltraidh àraidh a bh’ annta. Bha boireannaich gan cleachdadh airson bruidhinn mu dheidhinn chuspairean fad is farseeing, agus cuideachd airson oideas de dhiofar sheòrsaichean a thoirt dha clann.

Thuirt am bàrd Anne Frater rium gun robh tàlaidhean a’ leigeil dha boireannaich sgrìobhadh mu dheidhinn cuspairean air nach robh ‘còir’ aca. Bhathas an dùil gum biodh iad a sgrìobhadh chumhaidhean, òrain luaidh agus tàlaidhean. Ach cha robhas an dùil gum biodh iad a’ dol faisg air cuspairean phoilitigeach no panygeric.

Ach mas e tàladh a bh’ ann, dh’fhaodadh boireannach moladh a thoirt dha teaghlach no neach. Dh’fhaodadh iad a bhith cho poilitigeach ‘s a bha iad ag iarraidh.

Thuirt Anne gur ann am measg bhoireannaich a bhitear gan cluinntinn. Agus ‘s e boireannaich a chum iad a’ dol agus a sgaoil na h-òrain sin fad is farsaing. ‘S e dòigh cuideachd a bh’ ann diofar bheachdan a chumail dìomhair, ‘s nach cluinneadh ‘s mathaid feadhainn nach robh ag aontachadh iad sin.

Sgrìobh Barbara Hillers pàipear a tha air leth math mun chuspair - Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig - Dialogue or Monologue? Lullabies in Scottish Gaelic tradition. Tha Hillers ag ràdh

If we examine the traditional folk lullaby… we encounter a picture that is far from idyllic. Many oral-traditional lullabies deal with unhappiness, loss, violence, and death. The singers often give vent to feelings that are less than loving: frustration, anger and aggression. The phenomenon of violent subject matter in the lullaby should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Scottish Gaelic tradition.

Thuirt i cuideachd : “although most lullabies are marked by lavish expressions of affection”, agus thug I dhuinn eiseimplairean bho chànanan eile nach eil aon-coltach ris an fheadhainn sa Ghàidhlig. Seo fear ann an Eadailtis :

Rock-a-bye rock-a-bye
What patience it takes
I’m going to knock you against the dresser!

Airson an taobh eile a thoirt dhuibh, bha cuideachd tionndadh ann an Eadailtis de ‘inch-wincy spider’ - ‘s e ‘whisky ragnetto’ a th’ air! Ann an sin, tha an damhan-allaidh, a’ ruith air ais gu mhàthair nuair a tha e ann an trioblaid.

Griogal Cridhe - cha chluinn d’ athair ar caoidh

Nach coimead sinn air Griogal Chridhe. Chaidh seo a sgrìobhadh ann an 1570 agus fhathast cluinnidh tu iomadach seinneadair ga ghabhail . ‘S e màthair a th’ ann, a’ seinn ri cuid pàisde mu dheidhinn na thachair ris an duine aice. B’ e esan Griogair MacGriogair, a chaidh a chur gu bàs le na Caimbeulaich. Shìorraidh tha e dorch.

Ochain, ochain, ochain uiridh
Is goirt mo chridhe, a laoigh,
Ochain, ochain, ochain uiridh
Cha chluinn d’ athair ar caoidh...

Chuir iad a cheann air ploc daraich
Is dhòirt iad fhuil mu làr
Nam biodh agam-sa an sin cupan
Dh’ òlainn dheth mo shàth.

Bha leithid a dh’òrain cumhachdach. Sheall Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh sin dhuinn, agus aice ri cùl a shealltainn gu dachaigh agus i air an duine cheàrr a mholadh.

Anns an 16mh agus 17mh linn, thuirt Anne Frater, seach gur e cultur beul-oideas a bh’ ann, dh’fhaodadh òrain sgapadh nas luaithe na litir. Bha feadhainn dhiubh air an cleachdadh dìreach anns an t-aon dhòigh - mar theachdaireachd.

Gu bheil òrain ann a tha barrachd air 450 bliadhna agus fhathast beò ann an inntinn dhaoine, tha sin a sealltainn dìreach mar a tha iad a’ sgapadh agus cho cumhachdadh ‘s a tha iad.

Tàlaidhean a chruinnich Margaret Fay Shaw

Tha Hillers ag ràdh gur e genre annasach a th’ann an tàlaidhean, ‘s gun robh iad gan gabhail “(in)... an unusual performance context”.

While it is often classed with children’s songs, it cannot be stressed enough that the lullaby is an adult composition, a song for not by a child. In fact, as we shall argue, it may well be composed for the mother as much as the child.

Tha gu leòr dhe na tàlaidhean a chruinnich Margaret Faye Shaw a’ dol le seo. Mar eiseimplair - ann an O Bà, mo leanabh, o bà, o bà tha loidhne ann “Mo leanabh gun bhaisteadh, s mi fhin fon uireas.”

Seo dhà eile:

Bà, bà, mo leanabh beag

Dè a ghaoil a nì mi dhut
Gun bhainne cìche agam dhut?
Eagal orm gun ghabh thu crup
le buigead a’ bhuntàta.

Fear eile leis an ainm Dèan Cadalan

Dèan cadalan, a shùgh mo chèile
‘S fhaide liom bhith gad thàladh
D’ athair ag ràdh nach leis fhèin thu,

Frances Tolmie

Chan eil neach eile cho cudromach ri Frances Tolmie ann a bhith a’ cumail na h-òrain seo beò. Rudadh i ann an 1840 air en Eilean Sgiathanach.

Chruinnich i grunn thàlaidhean air an eilean. Thàinig iad thuice ‘gun sireadh, gun iarraidh’. Bha iad dìreach mun cuairt oirre. (Tha Acair Books air leabhar fhoillseachadh leis an aon ainm , ‘Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh’.

Tha fhios gur ann mar sin a bha e dha Margaret Faye Shaw cuideachd. Sgrìobh i sìos na h-òrain a bha mun cuairt oirre, òrain luaidh, cumhaidhean, tàlaidean... Agus nach sinn a tha fortanach gun do rinn i sin. Thuirt Anne Frater, às aonais an dithis seo, bhiodh an t-uabhas dhiubh air a bhith air chall.

Thuirt Barbara Hillers an t-aon rud rium. Nuair a bha mi a’ rannsachadh a’ phrògraim, thuirt i :

The remarkable fact is that at least as far as published material is concerned, the material published by those two formidable musicologists comprises the lion’s share of what can be considered as authentic Gaelic folk lullabies. It is even more remarkable that this may hold true even if we look at Gaelic lullabies in Ireland as well.

Thuirt Barbara cuideachd nach robh faisg air gu leòr cuideam air na h-òrain seo a chruinneachadh ‘s a bu chòir. Cuideachd, nach deach mòran idir a chruinneachadh ann an Eirinn.

Nach sinn a bha fortanach gun robh na dithis sin againn.

Òran tàlaidh na Mnà-sìthe

Seo tàladh breagha dha-rìribh a th’ ann an Òran tàlaidh na Mnà-sìthe. Tha ceangal aige gu Sliochd MhìcLeòid ann an Dun Bheagan.

Thuirt Kathleen NicAonghais gun robh agad ris an t-òran ionnsachadh nan robh thu a dol a dh’obair sa chaisteal. Bha’ d às an ciall airson na sìthe, leis a fairy flags aca ‘s a leithid.

Tha seo ri lorg air Spotify, aeo criomag dha Kathleen a’ seinn Òran na Mnà-sìthe. Dìreach àlainn.

Tàlaidhean - prògram air BBC ALBA (boillsgeadh)

Chan eil a’ phrògam seo air BBC iPlayer an-dràsta, ach tha boillsgeadh beag dheth ann, fad mionaid.

BBC iPlayer - Tålaidhean (Gaelic Lullabies) - Trailer

Taing airson leughadh.