Be n'Eirinn I
| TYPE | 3 - Complex Melody |
| TOPIC | Love |
| TUNE STRUCTURE | 9 bars |
| VERSE STRUCTURE | 6v 9l |
| TIME SIGNATURE | C |
| KEY SIGNATURE | ♭ |
| TONAL CENTRE | F |
| INCIPIT | GGABD'C'BAGD'EF' |
| GENRE | Ballad |
| TEXT SOURCE | Edward Walsh, Irish Popular Songs (Dublin: J. McGlashan, 1847) pp.115-19 |
| TUNE SOURCE | P.W. Joyce, Ancient Irish Music (Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873), p.47 |
| FIRST LINE | Cé fada mé h-aer an t-saoghail |
| NOTATED INCIPIT | |
| Joyce gives a translated stanza which he claims is in Edward Walsh's publication. However, neither this translation, nor a comparable verse in Irish, are found in the book. We have given Walsh's text as found in his Irish Popular Songs (1847). | |
Be 'n Eirinn i mo ghradh iCé fada mé le h-aer an t-saoghail,Is gur loiteas béith a'r céad má'r fíon,Níor dhearcat aon do léir ghoin rínn,Go teacht am shlighe do 'n bhán-chneisSí an chuílfhionn caoin-tais grádhmhar,Lé gaethe mhill mo shláinte,Aon gan phuimp,Gan taom, gan teimhioll,Bé 'n Eirinn í, mo ghradh i!Is crathach, craobhach réidh a dlaoigh,Níl ceal 'na sgéimh, ní 'l claon 'na croidhe;Ta Maire a'r méin dha mhéid 'sa mnaoí,Gan gaoth le s?gheamh 'na cáil ghlan;'Si an béit do chlaosdig na táinte,Le h-éigion grinn da bán-chneir.Mar aon ch?r sí,A n-eag chruit rinn,Bé 'n Eirinn í, mo ghradh i!Is deas a déid, a berl, 'ra píob,A mala chaol, 'ra claon-rosg ríghin,Iona leacain feic an chaor 'ra lídh,Mar ghéir air linn, a bán cruth:Ta féile, a'r finne, 'r fáilte'g an m-béith 'nar thril a cáine,Ní baoth a gníomh,Ní daor a dlighe,Bé 'n Eirinn í, mo ghradh i!O ghabara léi mar chéile fíon,Ní sgardad léi go d-teighead do 'n chill,An bal?am beul-tair, beurach, binn,Do gheur-ghoin rinn le grádh dhi-A gcéin gan mhoill ór áill leat,