| Author | Topic: Add: Farewell to Fiunary | |
| dmcg | Posted - 01 Nov 04 - 11:44 am | |
The wind is fair, the day is fine And swiftly, swiftly runs the time; The boat is floating on the tide That wafts me off from Fiunary. (Chorus) We must up and haste away, We must up and haste away, We must up and haste away, Farewell, farewell to Fiunary. A thousand, thousand tender ties, Awake this day my plaintive sighs; My heart within me almost dies At thought of leaving Fiunary. But I must leave those happy vales, See, see they spread the flapping sails! Adieu, adieu my native dates! Farewell, farewell to Fiunary. Source: Singing Together, Autumn 1971, BBC Publications Notes: Described as "Traditional Scottish tune, Words by Rev. Norman Macleod." | ||
| Guest Account |
Posted - 14 Nov 04 - 05:07 pm | |
From: maxwell macleod These words, attributed to my great grand father are a poor bastardisation of his origionals. If anyone wants I will be happy to sned them the real ones, Maxwell MacLeod Fuinary Morvern | ||
| Pip Freeman | Posted - 14 Nov 04 - 08:03 pm | |
Thank you, that would be most interesting to see the original words. Is the tune one that you remember? Have you any more songs attributed to your great-grandfather that you could share with us please? | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 14 Nov 04 - 10:20 pm | |
Yes, it would be interesting. Published texts are not always consistent, and have not been for more than a hundred years. Further confusion arises from the fact that, though Dr MacLeod wrote his verses in English, they were translated into Gaelic by Archibald Sinclair of Glasgow (so far as I know, at around the same time; but with luck Maxwell will know for sure); subsequently it has often been assumed that the Gaelic words "must" be earlier, and I have seen at least one literal translation of them (back into) English. The Roud Folk Song Index (no. 2317) lists the song as appearing in R A Smith's Scotish Minstrel (1820-4) and it was quite widely published in popular songbooks of the late 19th century such as Songs of the North (Boulton, MacLeod and Lawson, 1885, shortened text of 4 verses), The Gesto Collection (MacDonald, 1895, 8 verses) and British Minstrelsie (Greig and others, c. 1899, 4 verses). The last example stated that the words were "translated from the Gaelic" by Dr MacLeod, so confusion on that score existed at least that far back. Only the refrain is printed in Gaelic, but it is the same as Sinclair's. The text quoted here is not far from many printed forms, but the chorus seems to have been changed somewhere along the line, and "dates" in the final verse here is puzzling (it may be a misprint for "dales"?). MacDonald gives that verse as Oh must I leave these happy scenes? See, they spread the flapping sails, Adieu! adieu! my native plains; Farewell, farewell to Fiunary! The previous source indicated for the text here, The New Scottish Orpheus: A Collection of the most admired songs of Scotland, arranged with pianoforte accompaniment by J. M. Diack was published by Paterson Sons & Co of Glasgow in three volumes between 1922 and 1938, and perhaps it was that publication that introduced the changes (including, maybe, the move from the usual 2/4 time to 6/8?). If Mr MacLeod would be kind enough to quote his ancestor's original text, that would be much appreciated. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 24 Nov 04 - 01:07 pm | |
'Dates' should indeed by 'dales' - its a typo on my part. I have fixed the database but left the thread alone to keep the reference above meaningful. | ||
| lindaliv | Posted - 07 Nov 07 - 09:57 am | |
I would be very interested in finding out the original words of this song. My father was born at Fuinary, and it has always been the most beautiful place in the world for me. I now live far from Fuinary and Morvern, so this song means even more for me. My e-mail address is lindaliv@tele2.it thankyou Linda Livingstone | ||
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 07 Nov 07 - 01:00 pm | |
I didn't manage to follow up on the second post, Linda, and I don't suppose the poster will be coming back now. | ||