Price codeA
ScottishCatalogue no. 1507
Tha mi sgìth
I am tired
Music: Peter Hill, Words: Trad. Anon
Voicing: SATB
Performance time approx: 1m 10s
traditional Gaelic words and tune
Price code: A
Complexity:
This piece is part of the set "Mouth music set 2".
The set also includes:
This is a lively yet haunting piece of Gaelic puirt-a-beul (‘poorsht-a-beel’) or mouth music – the name for songs written to accompany dancing.
Traditionally, puirt-a-beul is sung unaccompanied and in unison but the tunes harmonise very well. Frequently they are sung in sequences of three or four, each song leading without a break into the next. Tha mi sgìth works well as the first song in the following set of four: Tha mi sgìth; Meal do bhrògan; An tàillear mhór; Gaol mo chridh-sa Màiri Bhàn (all published by Canasg).
Tha mi sgìth
Tha mi sgìth, 's mi leam-fhìn,
'Buain na rainich, buain na rainich,
Tha mi sgìth, 's mi leam-fhìn,
'Buain na rainich, daonnan.
Cùl an tomain, bràigh' an tomain,
Cùl an tomain bhòidhich,
Cùl an tomain, bràigh' an tomain,
H-uile latha 'nam aonar.
traditional Gaelic song
Translation
I am tired, and on my own,
pulling the bracken, pulling the bracken,
I am tired, and on my own,
pulling the bracken, always.
Canasg editors
Full pronunciation guide provided