Well, this is something that doesn’t cross one’s path every day. A folk CD from Scotland, sung in part in Gaelic. Mairi Morrison comes from Bragar, on the Isle of Lewis, and has collaborated with Alasdair Roberts who is a non-Gaelic speaker, but handily is a songwriter and folk singer and has a deep interest in Gaelic culture.
The album has twelve tracks on it, eight of which are sung in Gaelic, which is not that difficult to appreciate, as the lyric book included here has English translations, and some great liner notes which explain the roots of each song, thus giving pointers for further research. On top of this, it also includes a list of Mairi and Alasdair’s guitar tunings for those interested in playing along.
They open with ‘Mile Marbhphaisg air a’ Ghaol (A Thousand Curses on Love)': a catchy Celtic folk song which was traditionally sung by the women working in the tweed industry, venting their grievances. What surprised me in some respects was that the beat and metre is not entirely dissimilar to American working songs and the blues. The translated lyrics show this progression: -
“It ripped me painfully apart, It broke my heart in my breast.
It broke my heart in my breast, It loosened the hair from my head/ It loosened the hair from my head, For the man who has left never to return.”
As well as classic Celtic folk, there is a crossover into Americana with ‘Never Wed An Old Man’, a track that was originally done by Jeannie Robertson and recorded by the American Alan Lomax, who did much to popularise black and folk culture, work songs and the blues. It comes across a bit like The Pogues ‘A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’ although with some tongue in cheek humour and insight: - “When we went to our bed, he lay as he were dead.”
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‘Hion Dail-a Horo Hi’ a song that originates from St. Kilda an isolated group of islands in the North Atlantic, was another oddity that surprised me, in that the chorus (All in Gaelic with no translation) has a certain resonance with Country & Western music. Sung by Mairi, this was one of the highlights on the album.
Tracks like ‘The Whole House is Singing’, which Alasdair sings is some bright upbeat guitar folk music that has its origins in ‘Song of the Gael’ by Alexander Carmichael who was born in 1832. The lyrics still fit today: - “Then she gave me the wreath and she sang like a starling/ My fingers entwined in her feathery hair/ But she shrugged me away and said Alasdair, darling,When a song’s on the wind it belongs in the air.”
The album closes with a folk lullaby, the magnificent ‘Leanabh an Oir (Child of Gold)’ sung perfectly by Mairi and with a translation of the lyrics that was quite moving: - “Having spent all this time apart, each moment in your presence will be precious/ A contented bundle of joy, one gift that encouraged tear-filled eyes.”
It's a shame that music such as this is not more widely popularised, as this is a great example of Gaelic folk music, and far better than the plastic folk of the Waterboys and their ilk. At its best, this album knocks most other folk groups for six. Invest.
Drag City Records online
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