This song is a prayer from the Carmina Gadelica, a book of hymns and incantations from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland collected by Alexander Carmichael and published in 1900. The words to this song were collected from Iain Mac Nill, cottar, Buaile nam Bodach, Barra.
The Carmina Gadelica notes: “the reciter said—’There was a man in Arasaig, and he was extremely old, and he would make adoration to the sun and to the moon and to the stars. When the sun would rise on the tops of the peaks he would put off his head-covering and he would bow down his head, giving glory to the great God of life for the glory of the sun and for the goodness of its light to the children of men and to the animals of the world… The old man said that he had learned this from his father and from the old men of the village when he was a small child. Mannerless children would be mocking Iain, thinking that he was not all there, but it is not clear to me that poor Iain was doing anything wrong.’”
We reimagined this from its context of quiet reverence into a full blown celebration, second-line style.
lyrics
FÀILTE ort fein, a ghrian nan tràth,
'S tu siubhal ard nan speur ;
Do cheumaibh treun air sgeith nan ard,
'S tu màthair àigh nan reul.
Thu laighe sios an cuan na dith
Gun diobhail is gun sgàth ;
Thu 'g eirigh suas air stuagh na sith,
Mar rioghainn òg fo bhlàth.
Hail to thee, thou sun of the seasons,
As thou traversest the skies aloft ;
Thy steps are strong on the wing of the heavens,
Thou art the glorious mother of the stars.
Thou liest down in the destructive ocean
Without impairment and without fear ;
Thou risest up on the peaceful wave-crest
Like a queenly maiden in bloom.
Come on down, clap your hands now, clap your hands with me
We’re gonna dance all night, dance all day, till we all get free
Exciting new tunes from a master of writing and performing.The ensemble and production is such high quality, reflecting the hard work required to deliver this superb album. kinfan
Katie McNally manages to play so clean & groovy at the same time, and the whole trio together has such a warm and cohesive sound. Makes me miss cozy trad sessions in friends' basements. A romp of an album. andpersand