Another strange translation I found of Irish Gaelic. I was looking for the song, "Bog Braon don tSeanduine" and found a You Tube video by that name. Maybe some of you will know if it is the actual song or not, because I couldn't figure that out. But by turning on the captions, it took his Gaelic and tried to make English words. Was really good for a laugh. The song though I thought was beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFUVn7884a4

I found the lyrics referred to in another post I made on this forum. Anyone have the translation?

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Suzanne D. Williams is a native Floridian, wife, and mother with a penchant for spelling things and an Irishman somewhere way back in her background.

It is indeed the song and Iarla Ó Lionáird is a wonderful sean-nós singer.

The words he sings are slightly different so I will try to tidy them up below. At my level, I can make out all but one.



The word I am not sure about is /bLaus´/(?) in the second line. I think it may be babhais dialect form of babhta "a round".(Solved by WFM below = blais).

Bog braoin means "move a drop", i.e., "have a drink".

(Just adding a note to say I dropped the t from seanduine because Iarla wasn't singing it that way. Add them back in if that's how you'd say it in your dialect. )

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Have a drink of what? What is it with the Irish and drinking? The CC version of the song put in the word "credit card" which was funny.

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Suzanne D. Williams is a native Floridian, wife, and mother with a penchant for spelling things and an Irishman somewhere way back in her background.

Whiskey, of course.

I think this is a song about or for a wake. "Washing someone's feet" meant preparing a corpse for a wake.

Here's my attempt at a translation:

Move a drop, move a drop, move a drop for the old one,
Move a drop, taste it yourself, and give it to the old one.

Curfá:
Put to sleep, put to sleep, put to sleep the old one,
Put to sleep, and wash his feet, and move a drop for the old one.

A hen's egg, a hen's egg, hen's egg for the old one,
A hen's egg, and a little dab of butter, and give it to the old one.

Curfá

Fresh meat, fresh meat, fresh meat for the old one,
Fresh meat, and a drop of soup, and give it to the old one.

Curfá

Move a drop, move a drop, move a drop for the old one,
Move a drop, taste it yourself, and give it to the old one.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Super! Kinda gloomy though! (I'd say thank you in Gaelic, but I don't know how.)

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Suzanne D. Williams is a native Floridian, wife, and mother with a penchant for spelling things and an Irishman somewhere way back in her background.

According to Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin in her CD A stór is a stóirín, it's actually a Munster lullaby, with the "old man" being a [bald] baby. Here's what it says in the liner notes: Suantraí ón deisceart a tháinig ó Nóra Ní Loinnsigh, amhránaí ó Chórcaigh. Is ionnan an 'seanduine' agus an leanbh fireann is óige sa teach.

Páidrigín also uses an tseanduine, and she has a different 3rd verse:

Arán úr, arán úr, arán úr don tseanduine,
arán úr is braon sú 's é a thabhairt don tseanduine.

Her translation for bog braon is "warm drop", and I notice in FGB that bainne a bhogadh means "to warm, take the chill out of milk".

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I can certainly see the parallel between old people and babies - both of ours looked like bald old men for the first six months or so.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was also a lullaby, either. Lullabies often have scary or gloomy meanings.

As I mentioned above, I only removed the t because Iarla wasn't singing it that way.


Well, it couldn't be "a warm drop" because the adjective would be after the noun in that case, i.e., braon bog, though it could certainly mean "warm a drop".

However, I can't help but feel there is a fair bit of artistic license and anachronistic reinterpretation of the meaning of the song in that explanation. At the time this song was written, i.e., most likely late 19th century or earlier, people weren't feeding babies cow's milk or formula, so "warming" in this case might be a bit of a stretch.

More likely bog braon is playing on the "moving" or "letting down" of the breast milk, and the parallel to giving an old person a drink of whiskey.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

"Bog Braon Don Seanduine" is the only song that I ever learned directly from a native speaker, so I am a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to this particular song.

Here are the lyrics:

Bog braon, bog braon, bog braon don seanduine,
Bog braon, is blais féin, is é a thabhairt don seanduine.

Cuir a chodhladh, cuir a chodhladh, cuir a chodhladh an seanduine,
Cuir a chodhladh, is nigh a chosa , bog braon don seanduine.

Ubh circe, ubh circe, ubh circe don seanduine,
Ubh circe, is blúirín ime, is é a thabhairt don seanduine.

Cuir a chodhladh, cuir a chodhladh, cuir a chodhladh an seanduine,
Cuir a chodhladh, is nigh a chosa , bog braon don seanduine.

Feoil úr, feol úr, feol úr don seanduine,
Feoil úr, is braon súip, is é a thabhairt don seanduine.


Cuir a chodhladh, cuir a chodhladh, cuir a chodhladh an seanduine,
Cuir a chodhladh, is nigh a chosa , bog braon don seanduine.


Bog braon, bog braon, bog braon don seanduine,
Bog braon, is blais féin, is é a thabhairt don seanduine.


This is a really great song for learners of Irish, especially beginners, for several reasons:

1. The entire song is in the present tense, so a learner who only knows the present and imperative, can easily get through the whole song.

2. It's a slow song, so it is easy to sing (and understand while you're singing it) at it's normal pace.

3. It repeats a lot, so it's very easy to memorize.

4. This version (by far the best version, in my opinion) is sung by Iarla Ó Lionáird who is a fluent native speaker from the Múscraí Gaeltacht, so you can trust his pronunciation and grammar, especially if you are learning Munster Irish.

5. It is readily available on YouTube

So, you read the title (and nothing else) then did you, WFM?

The YouTube link to Iarla singing is in the first post and we'd worked out most of the rest of it except blais (which would make sense if it had an object.)

But thanks for comfirming what we already suspected.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Wow, thanks Breandán – that was very nice of you to say!


Well, it's good to know that you've got it all worked out; I won't bother explaining the meaning of the song then …