Na Fir Chlis (Aurora Borealis): Port nan Ròn. Rody Gorman
Publication
Na Fir Chlis / Aurora Borealis is collection of Gaelic poems by Rody Gorman, inspired by Cape Farewell’s 4-week expedition across the Hebrides in 2011.
Port nan Ròn
Na bodaich a bh’ ann air feadh Eilean Mhuile,
Càite bhon t-saoghal a dh’fhalbh iad uile?
Dh’fhalbh iad uile-gu-lèir, nach bu duilich,
Thar a’ Chuain Mhòir mar a chaidh na Muilich
A bha eòlach fhèin anns gach cnoc is coire
Bho Ì Chaluim Chille gu Tobar Mhoire
‘S gach iomadach cruachan is creachainn
Air cùl-fraoin ann an dùthaich Shìol Eachainn
‘S na coilltean a bh’ ann bho thus air an gearadh
A chunnaic mi bhuam uair bhon bhearradh
Mar a chunnaic uair eile ris a’ mhaorach
Bodach leis fhèin an Eilean na h-Aon Chaorach
Is e mar gum biodh is e ga bhuain
A’ bruidhinn ris fhèin os cionn gàir a’ chuain
Is am baile bàn agus balbh buileach
Ri Port nan Ròn thall ud anns an Ros Mhuileach.
ir faillirinn illirinn uillirinn ò
ll iù ill eò illean is eò ill iù ò
Port nan Ròn tune
The old boys who used to be all over Mull,
Where on earth have they gone?
They’ve all gone, sad to say,
Across the Pond like all the Mullmen went
Who used to know every hill and corrie
From Iona to Tobermory
And every mountain-top and rocky slope
In the middle of nowhere in the Land of MacLean
And the woods that were there from the start cut down
I saw once from the ridge
As I saw another time gathering shellfish
An old boy on his own on One Sheep Island
Like he was as he gathered them
Talking to himself over the roar of the ocean
And the village all empty and silent
By Port nan Ròn in the Ross of Mull
Originally from Dublin, Rody Gorman now lives and works on the isle of Skye, where he was Writer-in-Residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. He has worked as writing fellow at University College Cork and the University of Manitoba and is editor of the annual Irish and Scottish Gaelic poetry anthology An Guth. He has published a wide range of poetry collections, the most recent being Beartan Briste. His highly original English ‘intertongueings’ provide insight not only to the nature of his poetry, but the nature of Gaelic interpretation.
Sound Poem
Loud noise, crust or hardness formed on the earth by the weather,
shower that comes suddenly, mountain torrent,
twisted or misshapen foot or ankle, ligature Bailc
Sound made by birds in pursuit of the fry of fish Briotal
Sound of distant music Caireal
Wrangling noise, elegy, wig, lurking-place Callaid
Purling noise, like the sound of worts fermenting,
whisky in its first process of distillation, a stream
which is so small as to be almost covered by the heather,
bird, mole, the fundament Caochan
The sound of burning Caoir
Noise, colour, hurry, pinch of snuff, gibe, mist Deann
The noise of anything crackling or roasting,
the flapping noise of a banner Dearrasan
Noise in sucking, sponge-like substance coughed up
by a newborn foal, the five-leaved shamrock,
supposed to grow out of this substance after it is buried Deocan
Sucking sound, as made by walking with water in the shoes Dìosgaidh-dàsgaidh
Noise as of fish frying in a pan, lechery, exudation Drùis
Noise, the boiling of a pool where a cascade falls,
state of requiring much attendance and service
without moving from your seat Easaraich
Noise in belly of horses when trotting Fead-ghoile
Noise of things breaking, clandestine private talk Fise faise!
Grunting noise made by some persons when eating Fosgar
Noise of steam escaping or of liquors fermenting,
singing of a kettle, noise of frying, derisive cheering Gaoir
Noise of wild geese or swans Garaicleis
The noise of anything falling, particularly of a carcase Glag
Noise made by a cart on a rough road Glagadaich
Tingling noise in the ear (tinnitus), supposed to be a forerunner
of death news, if the noise is heard in the right ear
the news to be expected from the south, and vice versa,
cement, bird-lime, glue Glaodh
Sound of water falling by drops, clicking sound,
applied to a shorter metallic sound than gliong Gliog
The noise produced by the collision of soft substances Glograich
Hollow sound as from an empty vessel,
the noise a bottle makes when being emptied Glung
Peculiar complaining noise made by hens Gràdranaich
Noise, hue, siren (creature), uncombed hair, joke, love,
rough-piled clothing, ripple on the surface of the water,
head having the hair standing on end Greann
Sound of footsteps with wet feet Lapan
Sudden noise Lasgar
Deep toned sound, as of a person in a cave Mòthar
Noise of the waves, raging hunger, lung Onfhadh
Noise like that of a beetle Priompallan
Sound made by cattle when fighting, roar
that a cow gives when gored by another Raoic
Harsh, grating discordant noise, tedious highway Ràsan
Sizzling sound, as of flesh being fried Ràstal
Noise of the shrouds of a ship in a storm Roithlich
Sound of a blow, baldness of the head, bumper
of any spirituous liquor taken before breakfast Sgailc
The sound of loose stones falling along a steep and rocky hillside Sgàirneach
Disagreeable sound, bawler, shrill-voiced fellow Sgreadan
Noise of hard labour Slacaireachd
The crashing noise made by the breaking of bones Smùiseirnich
Noise of water when meat is boiling in it Sod
Noise, as of a door shutting Splad
Sharp sound produced by drawing the bulb of the middle finger
quickly and firmly across the bulb of the thumb Spliongag
Noise of scratching on boards, subdued rattling noise,
such as is made by a stone wall
about to fall, rats, mice &c in a hole, box &c Sporghail
Loud, sudden sound, noise, killing, life Spreadhadh
Noise of cloth in the act of tearing,
noise made by a scythe in the process of mowing Srac
Noise as the tread of horses’ feet, brain-swimming from liquor,
rank thick grass growing in freshwater lochs Stàirn
One of the noises of the sea Staplaich
Soft, ghostly sound or movement in the dark Taislich
Noise at night (premonitory) Taradh
The noise of the sea in a cave Teannair
Extract from Suibhne
when Sweeney heard the clamourbuzz of the communityhost and fondletumult of the exaltgreat hostcrowd he tookrose out of the sacredscionbordertree into the showerabundant trancenebulae of the firmaments above the rooftops of every place, above the ridgepolerooftrees of every quarterland-domain. for a melancholylong moonspacetime he went throughout Ireland, transient-visiting and rush-searching in rock-hard sodshelterspellclefts and in dronebushthickets of tall ivy mast-trees and in kyle-narrow covehollows of islandshorecastletesticlestone from estuaryspit to estuaryspit and from sweet cliffgablepeak to sweet cliffgablepeak and from smoke-cloudglenhollow to smoke-cloudglenhollow till he came to the eternally delightbeautiful Glenbalkan. there the grazingnakedwoodlunatics of Ireland would hauntgo after a fullsafe year of nakedwoodlunacy for it is is a place of eternal delight for nakedwoodloonies.
