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Dòmhnall Aonghais Bhàin, Dòmhnall Dòmhnallach

Ma ruigeas tu Eilean Uibhist
Air do thuras troimhn a’ chuan,
Buailidh tu air cladach m’ òige
Far am b’ eòlach bha mi uair.

Nuair a ruigeas tu an tràigh ann
Bidh ghaineamh bhàn ri oir na tìr’;
Chì thu làrach mo dhà shàil ann
Mur do dh’ fhàilig iad ri tìm.

Nuair a bha mi òg ’nam shealgair
Bu tric mi falbh air feadh nam bàgh;
S pailt mo lorg air feadh nan garbhlach
Far an dèan na calmain tàmh.

Ma bhuaileas tu aig Lag an t-Sàile
Gum bi sàmhchair ort mun cuairt;
Sann an sìochaint sìth Chnoc Hàllainn
Tha mo chàirdean-sa ’nan suain.

Tha mo chàirdean ’s mo luchd-eòlais
Fo na fòidean ann a’ cnàmh;
Sann ’nam measg bu mhiann mo chòmhnaidh
Nuair nì mi còmhdhail ris a’ bhàs.

An t-eilean grianach rinn mi fhàgail,
Thoir mìle fàilte dha le spèis;
Is ann a dh’ iarrainn a bhith tàmhachd
Seach aon àite tha fon a’ ghrèin.

Ged a thug mi ris mo chùlaibh
Bidh mo dhùrachd ann gu bràch,
’S bidh mo bheannachdan ga ionnsaigh
Air an dùblachadh le bàidh.

Chi thu Èiseabhal nan stùcan
Le cuid chùiltean agus chàrn;
S tric a dealbh a’ tighinn ’nam inntinn
Bhon a dh’ imrich mi thar sàl.

S iomadh smuain a bhios gam dhealgadh
’S mi fad air falbh bho eilean m’ òig’,
Fad bho eilean gorm mo dhùthchais
Far an lùiginn a bhith beò.

Thoir mo shoraidh do gach nàbaidh
Rinn mi fhàgail as mo dhèidh –
Gheibh iad ann an cop an t-sàile
Aithris bhlàth bhon dùthaich chéin.

Conversation between an Emigrant and a Wave

Donald MacDonald

Translation author’s own

If you reach the Isle of Uist
On your journey through the sea,
You will hit the shore of my boyhood
Which I knew so well at one time.

When you reach the sea shore
The white sand will be on the edge of the land;
You will find there my footprints
Unless they have failed through time.

When I was a young hunter
I used to wander around the bays;
My footsteps can be traced
Where the dove makes his abode.

If you hit the Cavity of the Salt Water
There will be silence all around;
In the tranquillity of Hallan cemetery
My relations sleep sound.

My friends and relations
Are decaying under the turf;
My desire is to be among them
When my eyes close in death.

The sunny island which I left,
Give it my welcome and love;
Of all the places under the sun
There’s where I would like to stay.

Although I left it behind me
My goodwill is always there;
My blessings will always reach towards it
And they are doubled with love.

You will see Eiseabhal of the glens
With its hollows and dales;
Its image is always on my mind
Since I moved across the sea.

Many a thought passes through my mind
Far away from the land of my youth,
Far from the land of my birth
Where I always desire to be.

Take my blessings to my neighbours
Whom I have left behind –
They will receive in the foam of the ocean
A warm remembrance from the foreign land.