Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig

Subject: Lyrics Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From:
Date: 22 Sep 98 - 03:21 PM

Hello! I hope someone will be able to help me with this: I've been searching for the lyrics to "An Raibh Tu..." for quite a while now, but have always run into dead ends. Does anyone out there either know the lyrics or have any suggestions of where I can search? Of course, if anyone knows where I can get sheet music (with a vocal line, please), that would also be wonderful. :)

Thank you all so much for your help! Marguerite Smith [e-mail]

Subject: Lyr Add: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: MaelgwynHe
Date: 22 Sep 98 - 09:00 PM

An raibh tu ar an gCarraig no an bhfaca tu fein mo ghra
No an bhfaca tu gile agus finne agus sceimh na mna
No an bhfaca tu an t-ull ba chumhra is ba mhilse blath
No an bhfaca tu mo vaillintin no an bhfuil si a cloi mar 'taim?

Do bhios-sa ar an gCarraig is do chonaic me fein do ghra
Do chonaic me gile agus fine agus sceimh na mna
Do chonaic me an t-ull ba chumhra is ba mhilse blath
Do chonaic me do vailintin agus nil si a cloi mar 'tair

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: briain
Date: 24 Sep 98 - 07:01 PM

9/24/98 You will find a splendid version of An raibh tu/ ar an gcarraig on "Say a Song" by Joe Heaney, NW Folklife CD otherwise, a printed version exists in "Ceolta Gael" le Sea/n O/g agus Ma/nus O/Baoill ISBN 0 85342 410 1 1975 Go n-eirigh an t-adh leat

Subject: Lyr Add: WERE YOU AT THE ROCK? (An Raibh Tu Ag...)
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 04:01 PM

I searched the forum to find other threads that may contain English versions, but couldn't find any. I have the Joe Heaney recording in Irish, and also a recording by the Norwegian singer, Sissel. The recording in Irish by Sissel is on a CD soundtrack for the PBS series, The Long Journey Home. The CD notes include an English version, and I was wondering if anyone knew of other versions/translations of the song in English. I also could not find any credits for who wrote these English verses, so that information is appreciated if anyone has it. Thanks.

Did you go then to the grey rocks,
And behind a wind-swept crevice there,
Did you find our Mary gently waiting,
Our lady,sweet and fair?
Did the sun shine gently round her,
Making solid darts through her hair?
And will you stay silent as the day
When the wind has left the air?

Oh, my Mary, long we wait here
While the hunter combs the mountains high,
And the soft wind whispers "Guard her,"
Though as hunted we must die.
Oh, the dawn is longtime coming,
And the long night clings with care,
But they shall not find with their chains to bind
My Mary, pure and fair.

Alice

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Alice
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 04:09 PM

For those who may be wondering about the title, it is "Were You At The Rock?".

Alice

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 07:28 PM

Perhaps a few extra words of explanation wouldn't be amiss. The rock would be the Mass Rock in times when Irish people were oppressed under the Penal Laws, and forbidden to worship in their own churches. So they had to celebrate furtively, at open air locations, in ceremonies conducted by a priest who was probably on the run from the civil authorities.
There is a wonderful slow air played (I think) by Julia Clifford on one of the Topic LPs of Music from Sliabh Luachra.

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Barry T
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 08:47 PM

Ahh... one of my favourite tunes! For those who aren't familiar with this haunting melody here is my midi sequence. I'm still not pleased with the guitar part, but I'm getting closer.

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: ard mhacha
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 06:39 AM

Matthew Edwards, Very well explained, the song was one of the secret songs to tell the native irish that a Mass would be taking place. As Matthew says a lovely slow air, It is on Chieftains 2 or 3. Slan Ard Mhacha.

Subject: Notation? Were You At The Rock
From: Alice
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 09:10 AM

Does anyone know of a gif or jpg of notation for this song?

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Alice
Date: 20 Jul 01 - 02:14 AM

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,skyesidhe
Date: 09 Aug 04 - 05:14 PM

If you google this you get a bunch of midi recordings, but if you want to hear it well I'd suggest Joe Heaney..like the person above did. He's probably the most famous Sean Nos singer out there. As far as notation goes, you can find it, but because sean nos is such an oral tradition, if you really want to learn it I'd say listen to several artists renditions a whole bunch of times, get the gist of the melody and then play with your own ornamentation. That is what is so neat about sean nos, that every song is different when said by a different person because personal ornamentation (like the trills and slips you'll hear Joe do) differs so widely! As far as the english version up there, it's going to be a little munted because it tries to rhyme and get the feel, so it won't be a strict translation, if you want a literal one I could do that for you with a few days notice. Anyhow, thanks for asking this because I was looking for the lyrics too, since I lost them!

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Fliss
Date: 09 Aug 04 - 05:33 PM

Strange I was listening to Long Journey Home at a friends house last week. She is Irish and was explaining about the Mass rock.

One of our Boat session musicians plays it very hauntingly on whistle with his son accompanying him on guitar.... makes the hairs on the back of your neck walk.

fxx

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,skyesidhe
Date: 09 Aug 04 - 07:16 PM

...so..I got bored so I did some translating..
Were you on the rock? Did you see my love?
Did you see the fair and whie and beauty of the woman?
Did you see the apple (apple is ull, but couldn't fine t-ull so not sure about that) is it fragrant and is sweet the flower?
Did you see my valentine? was she subdued for my wretchedness?

I was on the rock, I saw your love
I saw the fair and white beauty of the woman
I saw the apple, it is fragrant and sweet is the flower
I saw your valenting and she will not be subdued for your wretchedness.

This is pretty literal, Sean Williams, my professor told us it was all in code so that even if someone understood the irish they would not know that they were talking about the mass on the rock. It is possible it was call and response to as about mass if you were there and if it was still forbidden. the word wretchedness confuses me..but I'm guessing it's an allusion to the penal laws.

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: David Ingerson
Date: 09 Aug 04 - 08:26 PM

Thanks for the translation, skyesidhe. I'm sure someone else can explain this better than I can, but "ull" is "apple" or "an apple." To say "the apple" Irish adds the t- so it becomes "an t-ull." It's something like an elision, although I'm sure that's not the correct technical term. The same is true with the word for floor: urlar, an t-urlar.

David

Subject: RE: Lyrics: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Fear Faire
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 12:31 PM

In case anyone is interested in the t-, it is historically part of the article (the) - modern 'an' but previously 'int'. When the -t was lost in most cases it was still functional in some cases before words beginning with vowels or s- and while the article is nowadays spelled an, those situations where the -t survived are represented by inserting it with a hyphen before the noun. Masculine and feminine gender nouns have it in different cases (but that would be going than anyone needs to know here?).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,skyesidhe
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 07:47 PM

Yeah..silly me, I forgot, it's a lenition thing. I'm only just getting back into my Irish after 2 years, so it's rough going right now! *grins*...by the way, I found a great translation and a wonderful page, there aren't many songs, but Sean studied under Joe Heaney and runs the most comprehensive and largest Irish studies class in the world (at least that's what I've heard...it is huge..and in depth, one whole year of nothing but interdisciplinary Irish cultural anthropology!) Here's her song page. http://academic.evergreen.edu/w/williams/song%20lyrics.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tú ag an gCarraig?
From: Felipa
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 06:52 AM

I've recently heard a couple of different people sing this song at sessions. They used a different tune, much like the Sloop John B. That makes the song suitable for group and harmony singing. I asked and the (youngish) singers were not even aware of the old haunting melody.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From:
Date: 08 Nov 04 - 08:39 PM

Hello all,
Would anyone have chords for Ag an gCarraig (At the Rock)? The version I am familiar with is from a Beginish CD called Stormy Weather. Another beautiful song that I would like the chords to is An Búchaillín Donn.
Thanks for your help.
Doris Elena

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From:
Date: 24 Feb 05 - 05:06 AM

My thickets of thanks to Google, Mudcraft, and all who provided info above. I was asked to prepare a short medley of Irish songs for a Racial-tolerance concert in Kaikohe, Far North, New Zealand. I dived into Google with faint hope, remembering only the first two lines, and found 120 references!
Thanks again

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,Michael Holly
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 10:08 AM

This song was a code, sung on a Friday night. If the ending of the song was positive, that meant that mass was on at the rock on Sunday, if negative it meant not.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Dec 07 - 04:14 PM

-Have you been at Carrick, and saw my true-love there?
And saw you her features, all beautiful, bright, and fair?
Saw you the most fragrant, flowering, sweet apple-tree?
Oh! saw you my loved one, and pines she in grief like me?

I have been at Carrick, and saw thy own true-love there;
And saw, too, her features, all beautiful, bright and fair;
And saw the most fragrant, flowering, sweet apple-tree
I saw thy loved one—she pines not in grief, like thee!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Fliss
Date: 23 Dec 07 - 07:25 PM

Its a beautiful tune, one of our musicians plays it at the session. I didnt realise there were words to it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,paddy mul
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 08:45 AM

anyone got sheet music for this song??

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,Elias
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 12:59 PM

Yeah that would be nice

Subject: RE:tune Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: Felipa
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 11:39 AM

if I recall the tune is in the songbook Cás Amhrán 1 (see Cló Iar-Chonachta
also tunes are included in Ceolta Gael mentioned above

according to http://www.irishtune.info/tune/812/ bibliography:
As tune #94 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland.
As tune #61 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols.
On page 35 of [TOC] Tomás Ó Canainn. Traditional Music in Ireland.
On page 47 of [TOC] Tomás Ó Canainn. Traditional Music in Ireland.
As tune #99 in [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book.
You will also find a discography at Irish tune info
I think you can listen to Liam Ó Maonlaigh's rendition on line (I leave it to someone else to search for a link)

lyrics, literal and poetic translation at http://www.irishpage.com/poems/carraig.htm
[no, I have not perused to evaluate acccuracy or singability]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: AmyLove
Date: 06 Jan 16 - 09:56 PM

Lovely visuals and pertinent information provided along with the tune in this video: An raibh tú ag an gcarraig?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Apr 16 - 01:13 PM

There is now a performance of this air being sung with harp, available on compact disc. The name of the compact disc album is "An Caitín Bán", and it is a family endeavor, with performances, production, and even cover artwork by the brothers De Barra, sons of theatrical director Tony de Barra.

However, it is not the young men who recorded this song. The first two verses of "An raibh tú ag an gCarraig" were recorded in 1969 during a live concert in Brittany, according to the liner notes provided by the de Barra brothers. The young woman who sings the song, and accompanies herself on the harp, is the mother of the de Barra brothers. She is identified by her maiden name, Nessa Ní Thuama.

This compact disc is for sale online and can be obtained from Claddagh records.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,Rory
Date: 25 Jan 22 - 11:17 PM

A version of the song collected from oral tradition by Irish scholar Patrick Lynch in Mayo in June 1802, for Edward Bunting's Collection, in which none of Lynch's two hundred collected and translated songs were ever published by Bunting.


Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic transcription in:
The Edward Bunting Collection in Special Collections & Archives, Queen's University Belfast
MS 4/26 Manuscript collection of Irish songs in Gaelic and some English prose translations by Patrick Lynch
MS 4_26_30m, page 197, 1802

Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic transcription: Bhfaca tú mo Valantin?


Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic fair copy (neatly re-written):
MS 4/10 Manuscript collection of Irish songs in Gaelic by Patrick Lynch
MS 4.10.106, page 106, 1802

Patrick Lynch Irish Gaelic fair copy: Bhfaca tú mo Valantin?


Bhfaca tú mo Valantin?

An raibh tú ar a’ Charraic, nó a’ bhfaca tú féin mo ghrádh?
A’ bhfaca tú gíle na finne nó sgéimh na mná?
A’ bhfaca tú an t-ubhall is cumhran, deigh-mhilse bláth?
Nó a’ bhfaca tú mo Valantin, nó ‘bhfuil sí gá claoidh mar táim?

Bhí mé ar a’ Charraic agus chonnaic mé féin do ghrádh,
Ní bhfhaca mé gíle na finne nó sgéimh na mná,
Ní bhfhaca mé an t-ubhall ba cumhartha, deigh-mhilse bláth,
Ach chonaic mé do Valantin, is níl sí gá claoidh mar táir.


táim = tá mé = I am
táir = tá tú = you are

claoidh = caoid (arch.) = caoin = weeping, lamenting, mourning


Patrick Lynch translation:
MS 4/26 Manuscript collection of Irish songs in Gaelic and some English prose translations by Patrick Lynch
MS 4_26_30f, page 190, 1802

Patrick Lynch translation: Did you see my Valentine?



Did you see my Valentine?

Were you at Carrick, or did you yourself see my love?
Did you see the clearest white of fairness in female beauty?
Did you see the apple of the finest scent and the most delicious and best that bears a blossom?
Or did you see my valentine, or is she pining as I am?

I have been at Carrick, and I myself saw your love,
I did not see the clearest white of fairness in female beauty,
I did not see the apple of the finest scent, the best, and most delicious that bears a blossom,
Bu I saw your valentine, and she is not pining as you are.


.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: An Raibh Tu Ag An gCarraig
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 26 Jan 22 - 07:51 AM

Breandan Begley & Sons