Jo MacDonald is a freelance researcher, translator, broadcaster and writer, now living in Camuscross, Skye. Here she looks at how food is represented in Gaelic song, illustrated with some wonderful examples from Tobar an Dualchais.
Eat, drink and be merry!
In Gaelic the saying is ‘Itheamaid, òlamaid, caidlimid’- let’s eat, let’s drink, let’s sleep.
As Christmas drew ever nearer and we were bombarded with adverts for food and drink, I explored Tobar an Dualchais to see what Gaelic poets and songsters had to say on the subject of food.
Food and drink feature in many Gaelic songs and poems and given that repetitive labour was often required to produce them, it is not surprising that they are often referred to in òrain-obrach or ‘work songs’, sung to make physical work more enjoyable and to help maintain the rhythm of the specific tasks being undertaken.
There are, for example, churning songs associated with making butter. This one is sung by Annie Johnston, Annag Aonghais Chaluim Bhàin, who was a teacher, a tradition-bearer and folklore collector from Barra.
Thig a chuinneig, thig.
Blàthach gu dòrn, ’s ìm gu uilinn,
Thig a chuinneig, thig.
Tha glug an seo, tha glag an seo,
Tha glag an seo, tha glug an seo,
Tha rud nas fheàrr na chòir an seo,
Tha rud nas fheàrr na fìon ann.
(Come, butter, come. Buttermilk to the wrist, butter to the elbow, come, butter, come.
There’s a glug here, there’s a glag there, there’s a glag here, there’s a glug there; here there’s something better than you’d expect, something better than wine.) (TAD ID: 93757)
Other songs used to lighten heavy work like grinding corn using a quern, make reference to particular foods, like bannocks. This is Annie Johnston’s version of a quern song ‘Brà Brà Bleith’:
Brà brà bleith
Brà brà bleith
Beil a’ chailleach a’ bhrà
Is gheibh thu fhèin am bonnach brathann
Cha bheil a’ chiall – cha bhuin siud dhomh.
(Quern, quern, grind; Quern, quern, grind; Grind the quern, old wife and you shall have the quern bannock. I won’t, my darling – it doesn’t belong to me.) (TAD ID: 25903)
Of course, there would not have been milk, butter, cheese or crowdie had it not been for sheep and cattle and, as such, specific beasts are referred to admiringly – even lovingly – in other songs.
There are dozens of milking songs which bear witness to the importance of cattle in the lives of earlier Gaels including, ‘M’ Aghan Fhìn Thu, M’ Aghan Fhìn Thu’, sung here by Joan Wilson of Nunton, Benbecula in 1953 in Nunton. Joan had heard her grandmother sing it.
M’ aghan fhìn thu, m’ aghan fhìn thu
M’ aghan fhìn thu, m’ aghan donn;
Nuair bhios an sìoman air crodh na tìre,
Bidh buarach shìoda air an aghan donn.
(My beloved heifer has silk fetters. When the rest of the cattle have fetters of twisted straw, my beloved heifer will wear silk fetters.) (TAD ID: 85509)
Although less common in more recent times, sheep were also milked and, as can be seen in ‘Òran do Chaora’ (Song to a Sheep) individual animals could inspire bardic verse of the highest order.
It was composed by the great 18th century poet Duncan Bàn MacIntyre from Druimliaghairt in Glen Orchy and includes no less than seventy-three verses.
Here are just three:
Bhiodh aice dà uan sa bhliadhna
’S bha h-uile h-aon riamh dhiubh fallain.
’S nuair thigeadh mìos na Bealltainn
B’ fheàirrde mi na bh’ aice bhainne.
Chumadh i rium gruth is uachdar
Air fhuairead ’s gum biodh an t-earrach.
(She produced two lambs every year and they were all healthy. And when the month of May came around I benefitted from her abundant milk. She kept me in crowdie and cream, no matter how cold Spring was.)
There are several excellent recordings of ‘Òran do Chaora’ to be heard on Tobar an Dualchais (although none include all of the verses).
See, for example, An Eòsag’s (Captain Donald Joseph MacKinnon, Barra) particularly nice version here (TAD ID: 107139)
There are also songs which bear witness to the arrival of new things, like tea.
Some songs are full of praise for it while others blame tea for causing mayhem. In ‘Òran na Tì’ (The Tea Song) Emma Wilson, Eamag an t-Saoir, from South Uist describes the effect a shortage of tea had on the good ladies of Howmore, including herself:
Bha mise fo mhulad sa mhadainn an-dè
Ged thogainn an teine, mo choire gun ghleus
Poit-tì air an dreasair ’s cha dèanadh i feum
’S an canastair falamh, gun ghràinne.
(I was so dejected yesterday morning. Though I might light the fire, my kettle won’t sing. The teapot sits useless on the dresser and the tea caddy is empty, not a leaf left in it.) (TAD ID: 107572)
Another relatively recent food introduction moved Calum MacKay, Calum Ruairidh Bhàin ’ic Chaluim, from South Bragar, Lewis, to compose a song in which he criticises margarine in comparison to butter.
He tells of his disappointment with “sùgh a’ chruidh neònaich” (the product of the strange cows) produced by an interloper from Holland.
It’s sung here by a Mrs MacLeod from Lewis and if anyone has more information about her, Tobar an Dualchais would love to hear from you. (TAD ID: 5182)
Tha cuid ag ràdh g’ eil stamhan ann, g’ eil feamainn dearg a’ chladaich ann,
Cuid eile gur e blanaig na muic’-mhara th’ ann an tòrr dheth.
(Some say that it has tangle and red seaweed in it, others say that much of it is made from whale blubber.)
In former days many Gaels were dependent on what they could grow and what they could catch.
Deer, geese and ducks were shot, rarely for sport, but in order to supplement their diet. Desperation and hunger at times caused people to put their own freedom at risk, because their landlords owned the rights to hunt deer, catch salmon and trout and, in some places, even rabbits and hares.
Donald MacDonald, Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna, having returned to his native North Uist after the 1914-18 war, was dismayed to find that the land and fishing and shooting rights were still in the hands of the landowners.
He expressed his bitterness in ‘Òran na Seilge’ (The Hunting Song). It is sung here by the Rev William Matheson who was brought up in North Uist. (TAD ID: 33557)
An t-sealg ’s an t-iasgach bha sinne dìon air
Am measg fuil is crèadh ann an sliabh na Fraing’
Cha bhlais ar beul-ne air sgath gu sìorraidh –
Tha laghan dèante nach fhiach sinn ann.
Ach dha na h-uaislean a bh’ air a’ chluasaig
’S a’ phlangaid shuarach ’s i suas mun ceann;
Bhiomaide ’n uair sin a-muigh aig uamhas
’S am peileir luaidhe mar cluais aig srann.
(The hunting and fishing which we were defending for them
in the blood and clay of the soil of France,
we shall never taste a morsel of that –
the laws decree that our rights are worthless.
But the gentry will – they who slept on pillows,
with their despicable blankets over their heads,
while we faced frightful odds,
the whine of bullets constantly round our ears).
(Translation by Fred MacAulay, published in ‘Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna’, F. MacAmhlaigh, ed. Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, 1995)
When World War 2 broke out, only essential foodstuffs like sugar, eggs, ham and meat were imported into Britain and to ensure that they were distributed fairly, people were issued ration books and coupons.
Kirsty MacKay from Iochdar, South Uist wrote a song about a local bachelor who had great difficulty finding a shopkeeper who would accept his coupons:
Ràinig mi Diciadain
Far robh Seumas Sheonaidh Bhàin
Coltas marsant’ fialaidh air
’S ann bheirinn dha mo chard;
Thuirt e, “Chan eil sian agam
A dh’òrdaich Dia nan Gràs
Ach Lux is beagan siabainn
Anart-sìolaidh ’s leth-chlach ghràin.”
(On Wednesday I went to Seumas Sheonaidh Bhàin. He looked like a generous shopkeeper, so I thought I’d give him my card. He said, “By gracious God I have nothing left except Lux and a little soap, muslin and half a stone of grain.”)
‘Òran na Rations’ is sung by Kate Nicolson, Ceit Phàdraig Mhòir, also from Iochdar.
(TAD ID: 107552)
And what of drink then?
There are many songs in Tobar an Dualchais that explore themes connected with rum, gin, brandy, beer and obviously whisky.
There are songs about illicit distilling, about the endless struggle to avoid detection by customs officers, songs from the temperance movement, and songs praising and dispraising whisky – but that’s a topic for another time.
The website www.tobarandualchais.co.uk contains some 50,000 oral recordings of songs, music, poetry and factual information made in Scotland and further afield.
