Comhradh ris a’ Bhas / Dialogue with death
Sìleas na Ceapaich (ca. 1660-ca. 1729) is one of the more accessible figures of the eighteenth-century portion of our project, since her work has survived in a number of manuscripts with more-than-ordinarily secure attribution. It was first written down within fifty years of her death. Her collectio of some 20 items of poetry has been explored thus far mainly for its political, Jacobite sympathies, rather than for its particular techniques of composition or its place within the wider tradition of contemporary Scottish Gaelic women’s writing. She seems to have begun composing poetry in middle-age, possibly after recovering from a lengthy illness, the memory of which had given rise, by the early 20th century, to the tradition that she used to compose in a trance, refusing either food or sleep.
For further biographical information see Ó Baoill 1972, the definitive edition of her poetry.
Comhradh ris a’ Bhas [i]
Ochòin, a nochd mar a thà,
'S am Bàs air teach dorm gun fhios;[ii]
Labhair e gu calma[iii] cruaidh:
'S éiginn[iv] uair a dhèanamh ris.[v]
Fhreagair mise[vi] gu bochd truagh;
‘Gu dé ghruaim a chuir mi ort,
Nuair thàinig thu cho coimheach garg, [vii]
'S nach do ghormaich snàithn’ dhe m’ fholt?’[viii]
Bàs
‘Cha b’ e sin a b’ fhasan domh fhéin,[ix]
Feitheamh ris gach té bhith liath;
Gabhaidh mi an sean 's an t-òg –
'S math mo chòir air luchd nan srian’.[x]
Ise
'S còir bhith caomhail ris a’ chloinn
Gus an Araichear an t-òg,
'S a’ chuid as mò dhiùbh chur an greim’.
Bàs
'S nach dèan aon neach dhiùbh do riar?
B’ fheàrr dhuit an leigeil air chùl,[xiii]
'S an aire thoirt gu dlùth air Dia’.
Dhèannainn gu cinnteach riut comunn,
Gun tugadh tu mi gu m’ Shlànair,
'S comas a bhith ghnàth 'na shealladh’.[xiv]
Ni mi do leagail o 'n àrdan;[xv]
Fàgaidh mi do chasan caol is
Ni na daolagan dìot fàrdach’.
'S nach faigh mi sìneadh do dàil bhuat,[xvi]
Feuch an toir thu orm ìsleadh,[xvii]
Gus an dèan mi sìth ri m’ Àrd-righ’.[xviii]
Bàs
‘'S iomadh latha fhuair thu roimhe,
'S bu bheag t’ omhail air a’ chàs sin;
O nach do sheall thu na b’ fheàrr romhad,
Ni mise 'n gnothach an dràsda’.[xix]
Bhuail e buille mhór 'sa’ taobh orm;
Cha d’ fhoghainn a h-aon na dhà leis,
Gus an tug e orm bhith glaodhaich,
'S bu bheart fhaoin domh buntainn dhà-sa.[xx]
Nuair a thuig mi e bhith rìreadh,[xxi]
Thug mi sgrìobh fo sgéith mo Shlànair;
Rinn E rium ro-mhóran caomhneis
'S thug E[xxii] air an Aog bhith sàmhach.
Cha toir Mise tuille péine
Do 'n chreutar bhochd tha mì-thaingeil,[xxiii]
Feuch an tig i orm na’ s ùmhlaidh’,[xxiv]
'S an cuir i cùl ris an àrdan.
[i] Title from CW p. 222; cf. CW p. 2 [list of MS contents], Comhradh ris a bhàs, also A p. 89 & LS p. 19; I p. 43, Comhraig an Aoige; H p. 6, Sìle 's an t-Aog. Text from Ó Baoill 1972, pp. 12‒14, edited from CW p. 119 with occasional readings from A, LS & H. A, CW & LS were each copied by Fr. Allan MacDonald from the Iain Bàn Innse MS, compiled before 1842 but no longer extant; see further Ó Baoill pp. xxx‒xxxii. For a full list of sources and readings see Ó Baoill pp. 186‒87; only the most significant variations are noted below. Only I omits the designation of vv. 3‒9 as divided between ‘Ise’ & ‘Bàs’; these terms are used by CW, A & LS, whilst Hidentifies the participants as ‘Sile’ & ‘An t-Aog’.
[ii] I, thainig am bas orm; H, am bas air tigh’nn orm.
[iii] H, dalma.
[iv] I, Sfheudar; H, 'S eudair.
[v] CW, a shìneadh ris.
[vi] CW, labhair mise.
[vii] H, tra a thainig thug u coimheach.
[viii] I, ghoirmich graine am fhalt; CW, snaim dhe m’ fhuilt; H, snaith’nn a m’ fhalt. Ó Baoill suggests that “chances are that the danger of death which gave rise to this poem arose during [Sìleas’s] well-known illness, which is thus, by the evidence of [the preceding 2 lines], to be dated between c. 1690 and c. 1710 [i.e. during the probable youth of her children]. But obviously the date of this illness […] does not give us a date for this poem…” (p. 126). Cf. Ó Baoill pp. lxii‒lxv.
[ix] I, chan amhuil sin smar thachair dhomhs’; H, cha’ n e sin a’ s abhaist domhs’.
[x] Ó Baoill suggests two interpretations for this unusual phrase: either, literally, ‘people of streaks/ stripes’, i.e. ‘grey-haired’, or perhaps ‘folk of the bridles’ (srian), those still young enough to ride (1972, p. 127).
[xi] I, mo mhuiricheans’ ach og.
[xii] I, nach gabhaidh an curam a thagad dhiu.
[xiii] I, bhearr dhuit bhi tric air h urnaigh.
[xiv] H omits the preceding 4 lines.
[xv] CW, Islichidh mi do shroin bho’ n ardan.
[xvi] I, snach doir thu sineadh na dail domh; H, 'S nach fhaigh mi sith no.
[xvii] I, nach dig thu began nas ilse; H, nach toir thu dhomh sineadh-saoghail.
[xviii] H, gu mathanas fhaotainn bho’ n Ardrigh.
[xix] In H only, the preceding 4 lines follow v. 5.
[xx] H, cha beairt fhaoin 'bhi beantainn dasan.
[xxi] I, 'Nuair a dhfhairich mi 'm bàs ga rìreamh/ thug mise ans an tim sin.
[xxii] I, “Sthuirt e ris.
[xxiii] I, “Don chreubhaig mithaingail tha so.
[xxiv] I, D fheuchain an dig i nas umhal; H, tig thu gu 'bhi umhlaidh.
Conversation with Death
Alas, the state of me tonight,
Death has come to me without warning;
He spoke strongly, harshly:
A tryst with him must be kept.
I replied weakly, with misery;
‘What sorrow have I put you to,
That you have come, so fierce and wrathful,
Though there are no silver threads in my hair?’
Death
‘That has not been my wont,
To wait for every woman to turn grey;
I take the young and old alike -
With best claim on the silver-haired’.
She
'My family are but young in years,
They should be treated kindly
'Til the youngest are reared,
And most of them are capable’.
Death
‘What regard do you have for them,
When not one of them will serve you?
Better for you to turn your back,
And pay greater heed to God’.
She
If I thought you were in earnest,
I’d be certain to reach an accord,
That you would bring me to my Saviour,
And permit me to be ever in His sight’.
Death
I will do my part of that,
I will humble your pride;
I will leave your legs weak
And worms will dwell in you’.
She
Alas, if you are earnest,
And I will receive neither delay nor prolongation,
See if you can make me humble,
And reach accord with my High-King’.
Death
Already, you’ve had many days,
and paid but little heed to that;
Since you didn't look further before you,
Your business now is with me’.
He struck a great blow to my side;
One or two did not suffice,
Until I cried out
and it was a vain task for me to strike him
When I realised he was serious,
I went under my Saviour’s wing;
He was kindness itself
And he bade the Spectre be at peace.
‘I will give no further pain
To this needy, ungrateful creature,
To see if she gains in humility
And if she turns her back on pride’.
MACDONALD, Keith N. (1900). Macdonald bards from mediaeval times. Edinburgh.
Ó BAOILL, Colm. (1972). Bàrdachd Shìlis na Ceapaich: Poems and songs by Sìleas MacDonald, c. 1660-c. 1729. Edinburgh: Scottish Gaelic Texts Society.