An buachaill láidir - Brighid Ní Chaslaigh


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Transcript

Seo scéala ar an buachaill láidir. Fuaigh sé 'na... Bhí sé bocht agus fuaigh sé 'na[1] margadh 'un fhastó a dhéanamh. Agus d'fhastaigh sé le fear uasal go dtiocfadh leis gach uile seórt obair a dhéanamh. Agus fuair sé tuarastal maith. Cuir[2] sé insa barra go gca-... duine ar bith a bheadh corraí air an céad uair, go gcaithfeadh sé trí ciceannú[3] a fháil.

Thug an maghaistir[4] abhaile é agus chuir sé amach ag treabhadh é le dhá ghearrán agus caithfeadh sé treabhadh a oirid[5] is a rithfeadh an madadh (...) thairis. Bhí sé ag treabhadh lá agus tháinig an madadh aníos chuige agus thóg sé maide mór agus marbh[6] sé an madadh.

"Ó, goidé sin a rinn tú?" arsa an maghaistir. "Mharbh tú mo mhadadh!"

"An bhfeil corraí ort?" arsa an buachaill.

"Ó chan fheil," arsa an maghaistir.

Bhí eagal a chroí ar an maghaistir roime leis[7] an buachaill agus d'imigh sé ar shiúl chuige[8] Cailleach na gCearc agus ársaíonn sé an scéal daoi'.

Arsa Cailleach na gCearc, "Tá ceithre[9] uisce ort agus teana[10] tobar maith thíos insa pháirc agus nuair a bheas sé thíos insa... thíos insa tobar cruinnigh scafta fir agus tlig gach uile rud síos air, torpánaí, clay, clocha, is gach uile rud agus beidh tú réidh leis."

Rinn sé sin. Agus bhí an buachaill thíos insa tobar nach dtiocfadh leat a'n[11] ghreim de a fheiceáil ach rud beag de. Agus thlig... chruinnigh sé na fir agus thlig siad na clocha, clay is gach uile rud síos air agus thlig seisean gach uile rud aníos a bhí siad ag tligint síos, agus mharbh sé na fir uilig ( above ). Tháinig sé aníos.

"Ó," a deir sé, "goidé seo?"

"Ó, thusa a rinn sin," arsa an maghaistir.

"An bhfeil corraí ort?" a deir sé leis an maghaistir.

"Chan fheil," arsa an maghaistir.

D'imigh sé ar shiúl aríst chuige Cailleach na gCearc agus d'ársaigh sé an scéal do Cailleach na gCearc.

"Gá fhad a bheas sé fastaiste[12] agad?"

"Ó, go dtí go dtiocfaidh an chuach," a deir... a deir an maghaistir.

"Ó, is fada go dtí sin go seadh," a deir sí. "Now, tá crann mór os coinne an doras agus cuir do sheanbhean ar bharr amach insa chrann agus dhéanfaidh[13] sí cuach duid."

Ar lá arna mhárach ar maidin go moch, thug sé an tseanbhean amach agus chuir sé isteach insa... thuas insa chrann í, agus tháinig an buachaill amach agus fualaidh[14] sé an cuach.

"Ó, sin an cuach," arsa an maghaistir. "Tá sí moch i mbliana," a deir sé.

"Caithfidh mé a fheiceáil an bhfeil sciatháin uirthi nó goidé an bealach a rach' sí amach as an chrann."

Agus thóg sé cloch mór agus thlig sé suas insa chrann é, agus leag sé an (t)seanbhean marbh anuas.

"Ó, goidé sin a rinn tú?" arsa an... arsa an maghaistir. "Mharbh tú mo mháthair."

"An bhfeil corraí ort?" arsa an buachaill.

"Ó, tá," arsa an maghaistir, "agus corraí mór! Bhuel, caithfidh mise trí ciceannú a fháil ort."

Agus an chéad chic a thug sé dó chuir sé amach suas ins an aer é nach bhfeicfeá ach rud beag de. An dara cic a thug sé dó, cha bhfeicfeá ach rud beag baoidheach[15] de. Agus an trí ciceanna a thug sé dó, chuaigh sé suas ins an aer agus cha dtáinig sé anuas beo nó marbh. Sin an scéal ar an buachaill láidir.

Translation

Translation in hand. Aistriúchán go Béarla idir lámha.

Footnotes

= chun an. (Back)
Recte Chuir. Initial mutations are confused by this speaker. Cf. marbh (= mharbh), caithfeadh (= chaithfeadh). (Back)
= ciceanna. Cf. Mícheál Ó Mainnín, '"Goidé mar 's tá na fearaibh?": gnéithe de leathnú agus de fhuaimniú fhoirceann an tabharthaigh iolra sa Nua-Ghaeilge', Celtica 25 (2007), 195-224. (Back)
= maighistir/máistir. Leg. múisteoir? Cf. Heinrich Wagner, Linguistic atlas and survey of Irish dialects (4 vols, 1958-69), vol. 4, 298, note 3. (Back)
= oiread. Cf. Diarmaid Ó Doibhlin, 'A word-list from Omeath, co. Louth,' in Ailbhe Ó Corráin and Séamus Mac Mathúna, Miscellanea Celtica in memorium Heinrich Wagner (Uppsala, 1997), 281-95, s.v. oirid. (Back)
Recte mharbh. (Back)
= roimhe. Cf. Art Hughes, 'Gaeilge Uladh', in Kim McCone et al., Stair na Gaeilge (Maigh Nuad, 1994), 611-60: 658. (Back)
= chuig. Prepositions often have an extra syllable in Omeath. See Heinrich Wagner, op. cit., 295. In addition, the third singular masculine form is often used in place of the simple preposition. See Hughes, op. cit., 657. (Back)
I.e. 'shortage'. Cf. Noel McGonagle, 'Tá rud éigin a cheithre orm', Éigse 18 (1980-1), 299-303; Ó Doibhlin, op. cit., 281-95, s.v. ceithrí. (Back)
= déan. Cf. Hughes, op. cit., 653. (Back)
= aon. (Back)
= fastaithe/fostaithe. (Back)
= déanfaidh. Cf. Stair na Gaeilge, 652. (Back)
= chuala(idh). Cf. Ó Doibhlin, op. cit., s.v. fualaidh. (Back)
= bídeach/baoideach. Cf. Dónall Ó Baoill, An teanga bheo: Gaeilge Uladh (Dublin, 1996), 126. (Back)

Commentary

This story appears to be a combination of two international folktales, ATU 1000 Contest not to become angry, and a variant, ATU 1029 The woman as cuckoo in the tree. Both stories concern an arrangement between a farmer and his servant boy whereby whomsoever becomes angry first must be beaten by the other. The second story contains the episode where the master attempts to hasten the end of the bargain by having his wife pretend to be a cuckoo, only to be killed by the young man. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). The story is very popular in Ireland, with a great many examples having been recorded from all over the country. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968). The story also contains a number of motifs, namely K1691 The woman as cuckoo on the tree shot down, K172 Anger bargain, F613 Strong man’s labor contract: anger bargain and F613.1. Strong man’s labor Contract: blow at end of year (Blow sends his master to sky). See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8).

This story is transcribed also in Heinrich Wagner and Colm Ó Baoill, Linguistic atlas and survey of Irish dialects (4 vols, Dublin, 1958-69), vol. 4, 297-8, and in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 258-63. Another version appears in Nollaig Mac Congáil and Ciarán Ó Duibhín, Glórtha ón tseanaimsir (Gleann an Iolair, 2009), 36-8.

Title in English: The strong boy
Digital version published by: Doegen Records Web Project, Royal Irish Academy

Description of the Recording:

Speaker: Brighid Ní Chaslaigh from Co. Louth
Person who made the recording: Karl Tempel
Organizer and administrator of the recording scheme: The Royal Irish Academy
In collaboration with: Lautabteilung, Preußische Staatsbibliothek (now Lautarchiv, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Recorded on 25-09-1931 at 16:00:00 in Queen's University, Belfast. Recorded on 25-09-1931 at 16:00:00 in Queen's University, Belfast.
Archive recording (ID LA_1220d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 03:46 minutes long. Archive recording (ID LA_1220d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 03:46 minutes long.
Second archive recording (ID LA_1220b1, from a shellac disc stored in Belfast) is 03:46 minutes long. Second archive recording (ID LA_1220b1, from a shellac disc stored in Belfast) is 03:46 minutes long.
User recording (ID LA_1220d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 03:46 minutes long. User recording (ID LA_1220d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 03:46 minutes long.