franc 91 wrote:
Meanwhile on Yahoo Answers, there's a suggestion that raithneach in another version is rachaimid, which would make more sense, but it seems strange that the second word could replace or be confused with the former. There's also a suggestion that staimpí is a euphemism for sex, not at all what Seán said when he explained briefly what this song was about, when they were in Paris - either he didn't know or he didn't want to let on.
er … I wouldn't take Yahoo Answers too seriously – especially if the answer comes from that girl with glasses who used to post answers a few years ago (jd maybe? I can't remember her name anymore). Her translations were usually pretty good, but her speculations about "meaning" tended to be kinda silly.
franc 91 wrote:
From what he said, I had understood that staimpí were a variety of potato, and the man of the house sent the woman out to get only that one and not another, but in fact it's another word for boxty apparently.
That's right:
staimpí = boxty