Price codeF
ScottishCatalogue no. 0624
Mist-covered mountains
Chì mi na mòrbheanna
Music: Trad. arr. Sheena Phillips, Words: Sheena Phillips and John Cameron
Voicing: SATB, optional soprano recorder, optional piano
Performance time approx: 3m 30s
Range S: b – e'' / A: b – d'' / T: B – d' / B: B – d'
Price code: F
Complexity:
A choral arrangement of the gorgeous 19th century Gaelic song of homesickness and homecoming Chì mi na mòrbheanna (I see the big mountains), made famous by The Rankin Family and others. Written for Belsize Community Choir in London.
The easily learnt chorus is sung in Gaelic throughout. The tune passes among different voice parts, accompanied in various ways, and sometimes sung in unison. The piano (if used) gives solidity and depth – like the mountains themselves.
If performing the song a cappella, start at bar 7, end at bar 86, and leave out the third beat of bars 38, 54, 70 and 78.
O, chì, chì mi na mòrbheanna;
O, chì, chì mi na còrrbheanna;
O, chì, chì mi na coireachan,
Chì mi na sgoran fo cheò.
Here is the beautiful land I was born in,
The land and the language I love and was raised in,
The place where I’m sure of some warmth and a welcome
More precious than mountains of gold.
There is the woodland and there are the hedges,
And there are the fields and the flowering meadows,
And there are the deer on the slopes of the corries,
Half hidden in mantles of mist.
So hail to the hills of greeny blue grasses,
And hail to the heights of the hummocky mountains,
And hail to the forests and all that’s around them,
I’d stay here forever with joy.
Gaelic lyrics (refrain) by John Cameron, 1856, public domain
English lyrics (verses) by Sheena Phillips, used with permission
Translation of the refrain
O, I see, I see the big mountains;
O, I see, I see the big mountains;
O, I see, I see the corries,
I see the mist-covered peaks.
from wikipedia