The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

SOME
.'hi Old Perthshire Sono;. 291
AN OLD PERTHSHIRE SOiNG.
years ago I spent a pleasant holiday in Glcn-
quaich, Perthshire, with m\- friend, Mr P. C. Macfarlanc,
a student of much promise, whose earl)- death was
a decided loss to Gaelic literature. There was then li\-ing
in the glen a nice old body—a real bean choir—who pos-
sessed quite a store of old Gaelic songs and sayings, and
m}- friend was anxious that I should make her acquaint-
ance, and hear her croon some of her favourite liiinneai^s.
I was warned that if she was not in trim (" mar a bi a
gean-math oirre"), we might expect nothing. When we
entered her tidy cot, we found her busy baking. She gave
us a ccrdial welcome, and we talked of various matters for
a time. When we informed her that we \\-ere most anxious
to hear her sing some of her old Gaelic songs, she positi\-ely
refused. We tried to coax her, m}- friend e\-cn suggesting
some songs that he had heard her sing ;
but
to his oft-
repeated request of " Abair e, 'Sheonaid," her only reply
was, " Cha 'n abair." We were much disappointed, and my
friend even went the length of pressing her for her reasons
for being so obdurate. Her repl}' was—
" Nach cuala sibh
' riamh an sean-fhacal : Cha do rinn fuinneadh ri ceol nach
do rinn itheadh ri bron'"— (" Ha\-e }-ou never heard the
proverb, '
—
The}- never kneaded to music that did not eat
in sorrow ?' ".. We were quite satisfied with her reasons, ami
ha\"ing sat and chatted for a while, we took our leave, and
were promised a song if we would return the following-
da}-. We called on the morrow, and found Seonaid quite
heart}- and tuneful. She sang us a peculiar lilt, the air
being most catching, but she could onl}- recollect the
chorus, ^\-hich was
" Dh' eireadh, o dh' eireadh,
'S gu'n eireadh i leam,
Cailleach an da bhreidean,
Gu'n eireadh i leam ;