An t-Seann Dachaigh
Ealasaid Shutharlanach, Lizzie a' Ghlinne
Tha ’n dachaigh air a dèanamh suas
is fuar leam i ged ’s snasail,
leac an teinntein chan eil ann
ach teine gallta dealain.
An àm na h-oidhch’ bhiodh solas ann
a’ tighinn à lòchran ola,
an-diugh tha solas ri do làimh
le putan anns a’ bhalla.
Is cuimhne leamsa ’n làithean m’ òig’
an teine mòr le lasair,
an caoran dubh ga thoirt à cliabh
chaidh ghiùlan thar a’ bhealaich.
Gun phìob le uisge teth no fuar
a dh’ aotromaicheadh obair,
ach càit an d’ fhuair mi deoch a-riamh
a b’ fheàrr na deoch à tobar?
Is cuimhne leam mo mhàthair chaomh
a rinn sinn maoth ar n-altram –
nach tric a shuidh i is i sgìth
air furm ri taobh na cagailt!
Nach gòrach leibh mi bhith ri caoidh
na h-aimsir a chaidh seachad?
An sluagh a bh’ ann ’s a chaidh thoirt bhuainn,
nan cas-cheum luath tha sinne.
’S e ’m bàs thug bhuainn, an teachdair’ cruaidh,
riamh iochd no truas cha d’ dh’ fhairich -
nuair gheibh e àithne cha tàmh uair
’s an nead gu luath nì chreachadh.
Ged ’s fhìor a ràdh gu bheil mi ceàrr
’s gur mòr as fheàrr an dachaigh,
’s mi lùigeadh sgrìob air ais an tìm
’s mo mhàthair fhìn mun chagailt.
The Old Home
Elizabeth Sutherland
Translation by Mairi E MacLeod
The dwelling it has been new restored
it’s cold to me though stylish,
the hearth it is no longer there
now a strange, electric, fireplace.
At this time of night there would be light
the source a paraffin tilley,
today the light is close to hand,
with a switch upon the wall.
Recalling the days when I was young
the big fire with its blaze,
the black peat taken in the creel
that was borne along the way.
Without a pipe for water, hot or cold
to help to ease our toil,
but where else could I find a drink
that was better than our well?
Remembering my mother kind
what a loving nurse she made –
so often sitting, although spent
on a stool beside the hearth!
So silly of me to be upset
about times that are now over?
The people once here gone from us,
their footsteps swifter than ours.
That cruel envoy of death, took it all from us,
never pity or mercy did it perceive –
an order given, it wouldn’t rest
till the nest was quickly pillaged.
Although true to say that I am wrong
and the house looks so much better,
I’d long to travel back in time
to see my mother at the hearth.
