Traditional Scottish
From 'The Death Of The Children of Usnech'
Beloved is the land in the East
Scotland with all its marvels
I would not have left to come here
Had I not come with Noisi
Beloved are Dun Fidga and Dun Finn
Beloved the fortress above them
Beloved the Isle of the Thorn-bush
And beloved is Dun Sweeny
Caill Cuan!
To which alas Ainnle would go!
How quickly time passed there
For Noisi and I in Scotland
Glen Lay!
I slept there under a shapely rock
Fish, venison, and badger fat
That was my fare in Glen Lay
Glen Massan!
Wild garlic grew tall on white stalks
We used to have a broken sleep
On the grassy banks of Massan
Glen Etive!
I built my first house there
A delightful house! When we rose in the morning
A sunny cowfield was Glen Etive
Glen Urchain!
There was a straight fair-shored glen
Never was a man of his age prouder
Than Noisi in Glen Urchain
Glen Da Ruadh!
Hail to those with this heritage
The cuckoo’s song on bended branch is sweet
On the hill above Glen Da Ruadh.
Beloved is Draighen over a firm beach
Beloved its pure sand and water
I would never have left to journey west
Had I not come with my beloved
From a translation from Middle-Irish by Kuno Meyer
Stewart McKenzie
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/landscape-17-deirdre-s-farewell-to-scotland/
