I heard a version of this very old song on a TV programme recently with Iarlaith O Lionaird. I have searched for the lyrics to no avail. The tune is listed here in several tunebooks, but I wonder if anyone has the lyrics and would post them.
What’s that - I have two wee yellow goats? Is it related to the Gabhairín Buí tune on Mrs.Crotty’s recording? If the lyrics are all as Gaeilge, you’d be best to track down the TV prog., and learn off that, unless of course, your Irish is good.
Two Wee Yellow Goats is obviously to be added to that list of possible names for somebody’s group, as requested by him in a Discussions submission here a little while ago.
In fact, it strikes me as quite the best one yet!
I was looking everywhere on the net for the words to this song, couldn’t find them anywhere so I asked a Gaelic-speaking friend, Rachel from Kildare. She said she’d learned the song at school, and has a book with the words in. The translation is ours (OK, hers :o), the words from a Gaelscoil book.
Unfortunately we don’t have the last few verses, but this is more than we could find anywhere else on the internet.
Tá dhá ghabhairín bhuí agam
‘s minseach bhainne, minseach bhainne
(I have two little yellow goats
and one for milking, one for milking)
Briseann siad mó chroí ‘am
(they break the very heart of me)
Á dtabhairt abhaile, dtabhairt abhaile
(as we go home, as we go home)
Nil aon áit agam ‘na gcrúfainn siad
(I had no place to keep them)
ach síos mo hata, sios mo hata
(but down my hat, down my hat)
Ligeann mo hata tríd é
ar fud an bhaile, fud an bhaile
(my hat jumped off and went
round the town, round the town)
Tá dhá ghabhar sa choill agam
(I have two goats in the woods)
‘s caoirigh geala, caoirigh geala
(and the moon is coming, the moon is coming)
Ní íosfaidh siad aon ní dom
ach barr an aitinn, barr an aitinn
(they didnt leave anything to eat,
except the root of the furze bush, root of the furze bush)
Cuirim i dteannta an chlai iad
le stumpa mhaide, stumpa mhaide
(so I rounded them up with
a stumpy stick, a stumpy stick)
Siúd thar bharr an chlai iad
ar fud an bhaile, fud an bhaile
(I chased them (??)
around the town around the town
***
Any spelling mistakes are down to me,
any corrections Gaelic speakers want to make are more than welcome :) (specially the last verse - try looking up chlai and see what kinda garbage comes up! lol)
Hope this helps, it’s not perfect (I don’t even speak Gaeilge) but, it’s more than there was before :o)
Couple of possible corrections -
The only other place I found this song with words on the net is at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj_wStvxwlk
They have "I bhfad ó bhaile!" where I have "ar fud an bhaile", which seems more like what Nell sings, and they have "Way down the road they go from me" for "Siúd thar bharr an chlai iad..". Rachel wasn’t sure about that line (hence my question marks), and says their translation makes sense :)
Sorry we don’t have the remaining verses - has anyone thought of writing to TG4, Iarla Ó Lionáird or Nell Ní Chróinín and asking them what the words are? :o)
I haven’t visited for a while, and so I have just now seen the responses to my post requesting words for Ta Dha Gabhairin Bui agam.
Many thanks, and I hope I don’t offend by offering my translation as follows. Also, there’s a charming cartoon but I can’t find it on youtube any links anyone
Tá dhá ghabhairín bhuí agam
’s minseach bhainne, minseach bhainne
(I have two little yellow goats
and lots of milk, lots of milk)
Briseann siad mó chroí ‘agam
Á dtabhairt abhaile, dtabhairt abhaile
(
they break the very heart of me as we go home, as we go home)
Nil áit agam ‘na gcrúfainn said ach síos mo hata, sios mo hata
(I have no place to milk them in
but down my hat, down my hat)
Ligeann mo hata tríd é
ar fud an bhaile, fud an bhaile
(my hat lets it (the milk) through, all round the town, all round the town)
Tá dhá ghabhar sa choill agam’s caoirigh geala, caoirigh geala
(I have two goats in the woods, and bright (coloured) sheep, bright sheep)
Ní íosfaidh siad aon ní dom
ach barr an aitinn, barr an aitinn
(they won’t eat a thing for me,
but the top of the furze, top of the furze)
Cuirim i dteannta an chlai iad
le stumpa mhaide, stumpa mhaide
(I chase them towards the fence with
a stump of a stick, a stump of a stick)
Siúd thar bharr an chlai iad
ar fud an bhaile, fud an bhaile
(Over the fence they went, around the town, around the town)
great, couldn’t get my hands on this anywhere. does the line ‘cuirim i dteannta an chlaí’ translate as ‘i put them tight to the ditch’?
go raibh maith agat cibe.
This song was also recorded by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin on her album, ’ A Stór ‘s a Stórín’ released on Gael Linn 1994.
I saw this on a German site. I post it as it contains a final few lines which I have heard on the various renderings I have heard of this lovely tune .
Tá dhá ghabhairín bhuí agam
‘S minseach bhainne, minseach bhainne
Briseann siad mó chroí ‘am
Á dtabhairt abhaile, á dtabhairt abhaile
Nil aon áit agam ‘na gcrúfainn said
Ach síos mo hata, sios mo hata
Ligeann mo hata tríd é
Ar fud an bhaile, fid an bhaile
Tá dhá ghabhar sa choill agam
‘S caoirigh geala, caoirigh geala
Ní íosfaidh siad aon ní dom
Ach barr an aitinn, barr an aitinn
Cuirim i dteannta an chlaí iad
Abhfad ó bhaile, abhfad ó bhaile
Port na ‘fuil ag an píobaire,
An highland Laddie Highland Laddie
Port na ‘fuil ag an píobaire
An highland Laddie Highland Laddie
Seán ó Ceallaigh an píobaire
Is bíodh sé mar sin, bíodh sé mar sin
This is the version Nell Ní Chróinin sings at:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MAiNxTDP3Ww
Tá dhá ghabhairín bhuí agam
‘S minseach bainne, minseach bainne.
Briseann siad an chroí ionam
Á dtabhairt abhaile, ‘dtabhairt abhaile.
Nil áit agam go gcrúfainn iad
Ach síos tríom hata, sios tríom hata.
Scaoileann mo hata tríd é
Ar fud a’ bhaile, fud a’ bhaile.
Tá dhá ghabhar sa choill agam
‘S caoirigh gheala, caoirigh gheala.
Ní íosfaidís aon ní dhom
Ach barr an aitinn, barr an aitinn.
Cuirim in aghaidh an chlaí iad
Le stumpa bhata, stumpa bhata
Siúd thar mhullach an chlaí iad
I bhfad ó bhaile, ‘bhfad ó bhaile.
Port ná ‘fuil ag an bpíobaire,
Ná Hieland Laddie, Hieland Laddie,
Port ná ‘fuil ag an bpíobaire
Ná Hieland Laddie, Hieland Laddie.
Seán Ó Ceallaigh an píobaire
Is bíodh sé mar sin, bíodh sé mar sin,
Seán Ó Ceallaigh an píobaire
Is bíodh sé mar sin, bíodh sé mar sin.
I’ve two little yellow goats
And a nannygoat for milk, a nannygoat for milk.
They break the heart in me
Driving them home, driving them home.
I’ve no place to milk them
But down through my hat, down through my hat.
My hat lets it through
Around the town, around the town.
I’ve two goats in the wood
And white sheep, white sheep
They won’t eat anything for me
Except the top of the furze, the top of the furze.
I herd them up against the fence
With a stump of a stick, a stump of a stick.
Over the top of the fence they go
Far from home, far from home.
A tune the piper doesn’t have
Is Hieland Laddie, Hieland Laddie
A tune the piper doesn’t have
Is Hieland Laddie, Hieland Laddie
John Kelly is the piper
And let that be as it may, be as it may,
John Kelly is the piper
And let that be as it may, be as it may.
As Nell says, it doesn’t make much sense but, still, perhaps it’s a better way to carry the nice little polka tune than lilting. [Note: "baile" has various meanings: place, home, town. I take it to mean both home and town in the various occurrences.]
Upon reflection, to the extent anything works, "around the house" might be better than "around the town" in line 8.
