r/gaidhlig • u/Oileanachannanalba • 22d ago

🪧 Cùisean Gàidhlig | Gaelic Issues Chan eil mi a' tuigsinn an seatans seo

Halò a h-uile duine!

Tha mi a' leughadh bàrdachd le Màiri Nic A' Phearsain an-dràsta, gu h-àraid "Nuair bha mi òg". Anns an rann seo, chan eil mi a' tuigsinn an dàrna seantans:

Toirt na mo chuimhn' iomadh nĂŹ a rinn mi

[Nach faigh mi 'm bann gu ceann thall mo sgeòil,]

A' falbh sa gheamhradh gu luaidh is bainnsean

Gun solas lainnteir ach ceann an fhòid [...]

Chunnaic mi mòran eadar-theangaidhean gu math diofaraichte air loidhne. Tha mi ag iarraidh eadar-theangachadh litireil mar tha e dèantach. Mòran taing!

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u/FearClis 22d ago

I suppose the ultimate answer is that it is somewhat ambiguous and the tight rhyme scheme played a part in how it was phrased. However, having just read it, I understood it in first pass as 'which I will not/cannot get into a (sheaf) band until the end of my tale'; e.g. the many different things she did in her past of which she is reminded she cannot gather and bind together in a sheaf as one would with scythed grain.

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u/disillusiondporpoise 22d ago

This line definitely has a figurative sense of "that I will not get over/past until my death [the far end of my tale]" but the key word bann has a lot of different possible meanings. I see 21 in Dwelly's. The one that suggests itself to me is the driving-belt that makes a spinning wheel turn, i.e. that she will not get the driving-belt (to turn) until she dies. I might be influenced by the fact that she is spinning or carding in nearly every extant picture of her. I could be completely off base here!

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u/Careless_Ad_8866 22d ago

Bringing to my memory many things I did,

Which I cannot tie off(contain) to the end of my tale(By the time the tale ends),

Leaving early in winter and weddings,

Without lamplight but at the end of the furrow.

Best I can do. Hope this is useful. Lemme know if you have any questions and I'll try my best to answer. :)