The first part is traditional from the puirt a beul of the same name. The second part was composed by Dr. Angus MacDonald.
Lyrics
From celticlyricscorner.net
Gaidhlig:
Leis a’ bhriogas uallaich, horo-o hì
Leis a’ bhriogais uallaich, ho ri ho rò
Briogais an duin’ uasail, horo-o hì
‘S iomadh duine chual i nach robh na còir
Siod a’ bhriogais fhasanta, horo-o hì
Bhriogais a bha agamsa, ho ri ho rò
Bha i muthas fada dhomh, horo-o hì
‘S gad a chanainn farsaing air a h-uile dòigh
‘S chaidh mi chun an tàillier, horo-o hì
‘S gun gearradh e pàirt dhi, ho ri ho rò
Thuirt e airson pàigheadh, horo-o hì
Gun deanadh e dhà air na bh’ innte chlò
Cha robh innt ach diùbhaidh, horo-o hì
B’ fharsuing anns a’ chùl i, ho ri ho rò
Gad a rachadh triùir innt’, horo-o hì
Ghabhadh i co dhiùbh ‘ad, gu brith an còrr
Saoil nach robh i cunnartach, horo-o hì
Nuair a chuir mi umam i, ho ri ho rò
Shaoil iad nach robh duin’ innte, horo-o hì
Gus an cual ‘ad bruidhinn agus thuirt iad "ò"
Beurla:
With the fantastic breeks, horo-o hi
With the fantastic breeks, ho ri ho ro
The gentleman’s breeks, horo-o hi
Many a person heard of them that was not near them
These were the trendy breeks, horo-o hì
The breeks that I had, ho ri ho rò
They were rather long, horo-o hì
And I would say wide in every way
I went to the tailor, horo-o hì
That he would cut some of it, ho ri ho rò
He said that for payment, horo-o hì
He would make two from the amount of cloth
They were worthless, horo-o hì
They were wide in the back, ho ri ho rò
Though three people would go in them, horo-o hì
They would take them and more
Don’t you think they were dangerous, horo-o hì?
When I put them on, ho ri ho rò
People thought there was no one in them, horo-o hì
‘Til they heard talking and said, "Aw"
L:1/16
… is what you need for the beats to work out in your transcription.
the ABCs as originally posted ended up with twice as many beats as a measure of 4/4 should have. Changing L:1/16 was a fix for that. Now the measures have been split in two, so that works out, too—at least as far as the math is concerned. I’m not quite sure that squeezing a 3/2 tune into 4/4 serves the piece all that well.
For phrasing’s sake…
I’ve changed it to a 3/2. The ABCs were the same from initial posting up until I changed them to 3/2.
The extra beats in bars 4 and 8 I have posted above are as Dr. Angus MacDonald phrased it. I guess common time isn’t quite right there. 4/2 then?
The Pompous Trousers
I’m playing it as Dr Angus does on "A’ Sireadh Spors", a great tune that has been running round my head for the best past month or so…..
Just to confuse things a little
Here’s the Batties with an arrangement of "A’ Bhriogais Uallach" a commercial job by the looks of it and quite good.