by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation by James Clarence Mangan (1803 - 1849)
Bhean na tTrí mBó
Language: Irish (Gaelic)
Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó As to bhólacht ná bí teann Do chonairc meisi, gan gó, Bean is ba dá mhó a beann. Ní mhaireann saidhbhrios do ghnúith Do neach ná tabhair táir go mór Chúgath an téag ar gach taobh Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. Sliocht Eóghain mhóir sa Múmhain A nimtheacht do ní clú dóibh A seólta gur léigeadar síos Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. Clann ghaisce thighearna an Chláir A nimtheacht sin ba lá leóin Sgan súil re na tteacht go bráth, Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. Dómhnall ó Dún-buídhe na long O'Súilleabháin nár thím glór Féach gur thuit san Spáin re cloidheamh Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. O'Ruairc is Maguidhir do bhí Lá i n-Eirinn na lán beóil Féach féin gur imthig an dír, Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. Síol gCearbhuill do bhí teann Le mbeirthí gach geall ingleó Ní maireann aon díobh mo dhíth Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. O aon bhoin amháin do bhreis Ar mhnaoi eile is í a dó Do rinnisi iomorca aréir Go reidh, a bhean na tTrí mBó. Bíodh ar mfhallaing a ainnir as uaibhreach gnúis Do bhíos gan dearmad seasmhach buan sa tnúith Tríd an rachmus do ghlacais red bhuaibh ar túis Da bhfaghainnsi reilbh a ceathair do bhuailfinn tú.
Confirmed with The Irish Penny Journal, Dublin: printed and published by Gunn & Cameron, 1840. Saturday, August 29, 1840; Volume I, Number 9 in the article, "Ancient Irish Literature, Number I." Pages 68 - 69.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "Bhean na tTrí mBó" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by James Clarence Mangan (1803 - 1849) , "The Woman of Three Cows" ; composed by Alicia Adélaïda Needham.
Researcher for this page: Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2017-05-17
Line count: 36
Word count: 225
The Woman of Three Cows
Language: English after the Irish (Gaelic)
O, Woman of Three Cows, agragh! don't let your tongue thus rattle! O, don't be saucy, don't be stiff, because you may have cattle. [I have]1 seen -- and, here's my hand to you, I only say what's true -- [A]2 many a one with twice your stock not half so proud as you. Good luck to you, don't scorn the poor, and don't be their despiser, For worldly wealth soon melts away, and cheats the very miser, And Death soon strips the proudest wreath from haughty human brows; Then don't be stiff, and don't be proud, good Woman of Three Cows! See where Momonia's heroes lie, proud Owen More's descendants, 'Tis they that won the glorious name, and had the grand attendants! If they were forced to bow to Fate, as every mortal bows, Can you be proud, can you be stiff, my Woman of Three Cows! The brave sons of the Lord of Clare, they left the land to mourning; Movrone! for they were banished, with no hope of their returning -- Who knows in what abodes of want those youths were driven to house? Yet you can give yourself these airs, O, Woman of Three Cows! O, think of Donnell of the Ships, the Chief whom nothing daunted -- See how he fell in distant Spain, unchronicled, unchanted! He sleeps, the great O'Sullivan, where thunder cannot rouse -- Then, ask yourself, should you be proud, good Woman of Three Cows! O'Ruark, Maguire, those souls of fire, whose names are shrined in story -- Think how their high achievements once made Erin's greatest glory -- [Yet now their bones lie mouldering under weeds and cypress boughs, And so, for all your pride, will yours, O, Woman of Three Cows!]3 [The O'Carrolls also, famed when Fame was only for the boldest, Rest in forgotten sepulchres with Erin's best and oldest;]3 [Yet]4 who so great as they of yore in battle or carouse? Just think of that, and hide your head, good Woman of Three Cows! Your neighbour's poor, and you, it seems, are big with vain ideas, Because, inagh! you've got three cows, one more, I see, than she has. That tongue of yours wags more at times than Charity allows, But, if [you are]5 strong, be merciful, great Woman of Three Cows! Now, there you go! You still, of course, keep up your scornful bearing, And I'm too poor to hinder you; but, by the cloak I'm wearing, If I had but four cows myself, even though you were my spouse, I'd thwack you well to cure your pride, my Woman of Three Cows!
A. Needham sets stanzas 1-3, 6-9
Confirmed with The Irish Penny Journal, ublin: printed and published by Gunn & Cameron, 1840. Saturday, August 29, 1840: Volume I, number 9. Page 69.
1 Needham: "I've"2 Needham: "There's"
3 omitted by Needham.
4 Needham: "Yes,"
5 Needham: "you're"
Text Authorship:
- by James Clarence Mangan (1803 - 1849), "The Woman of Three Cows" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Irish (Gaelic) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Bhean na tTrí mBó"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Alicia Adélaïda Needham (1863 - 1945), "The Woman of Three Cows", published 1904, stanzas 1-3,6-9 [voice and piano], from A Bunch of Shamrocks, no. 7, London: Boosey & Co. [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2017-05-17
Line count: 36
Word count: 435