Air M貌inteach Shuardail
Ruaraidh MacThòmais
Ann am beul an latha thog thu ort
gu Mòinteach Shuardail.
B’ ao-colthach ris a’ phampas i,
ach bha do chù ri do shàil
’s bha thu còmhradh ris anns a’ chainnt Spàinnich.
A’ dol seachad air Loch Cheòis
chunna tu caorann a’ fàs air eilean
’s gun chraoibh air fàire ach ì,
is chuimhnich thu air coilltean Chile,
air Punta Arenas is Santiago,
boireannaich fo chòmhdach a’ mhantilla,
is fìon, is measan,
is soitheach a’ fàgail cidhe Valparaiso.
On Swordale Moor
Derick Thomson
Translation author’s own
At daybreak you set out
for Swordale Moor.
It was hardly reminiscent of the pampas,
but you had your dog at heel
and spoke to him in Spanish.
Passing Keose Loch
you saw a rowan growing on an island,
with no other tree in sight,
and you remembered the forests of Chile,
Punta Arenas and Santiago,
women wearing the mantilla,
and wine, and fruits,
and a ship leaving the quay in Valparaiso.
