Celtic Lyrics Corner > Artists & Groups > Clannad > Crann Ull > Bunan Bui

   
Crann Ull Bunan Bui
   
Credits: n/a
   
Appears On: Crann Ull
   
Language: Gaeilge (Irish Gaelic)
   
Other Versions: "The Yellow Bittern" on Cathie Ryan's album The Music Of What Happens
   

Lyrics: English Translation:
   
A bhonnáin bhuí 's é mo léan do luí Oh yellow bittern, I grieve your dying
'S do chnámha sínte tar éis do ghrinn And your bones stretched out notwithstanding your humour
'S ní easpa bidh, ach díobháil dí It isn't want of food, but of the damned drink
A d'fhág 'do luí thú ar chúl do chinn That's left you dead on your back
Is measa liom féin ná scrios na Traí This is worse to me than the fall of Troy
Tú a bheith 'do luí ar leaca lom' You lying dead on the bare stones
Is nach ndearn' tú díth ná dola sa tír You brought no hurt or harm to anyone
'S nárbh fhearr leat fíon ná uisce poll As you preferred wine to well water
   
Ní hiad bhur n-éanlaith atá mé ag éagaoin It isn't your birds there that I'm lamenting
An chuach, an traonach ná'n chorr bhreac The cuckoo, the corncrake or the dappled heron
Ach mo bhonnán buí, a bhí lán den chroí It's my yellow bittern, who was full of heart
'S gur chosúil liom féin é i nós 's i ndath And was like myself in style and color
Bhíodh sé 'síoraí 'g ól na dí He was forever drinking the draught
Is deirtear go mbímse mar sin seal And it's said that I am the same way
Níl aon bhraon dá bhfaighinn nach ligfinn síos There isn't a drop I could get that I wouldn't swallow
Ar eagla go bhfaighinnse bás den tart For fear that I could die from thirst
   
'S é 'd'iarr mo stór orm ligean den ól My love asked me to put down the drink
Nó nach mbeinnse beo ach seal beag gearr Or I wouldn't be alive much longer
Ach dúirt mé léi gur thug sí an bhréag But I told her that she lied
Is gurbh fhaidide mo shaolsa an deoch úd 'fháil And I'd live longer if I kept on drinking
Mar an bhfeiceann sibh éan an phíobáin réidh Didn't you all see the bird of the long gullet
A chuaigh in éag den tart ar ball? Who died from thirst a little while ago?
'S, a chomharsana cléibhe, fliuchaigí bhur mbéal So, my bosom friends, drown your thirst
Mar ní bhfaighidh sibh aon bhraon i ndiaidh bhur mbáis As you won’t get a drop at all after you’re dead