Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry/Deirdre's Farewell to Scotland
DEIRDRE'S FAREWELL TO SCOTLAND
A beloved land is yon land in the east,
Alba[1] with its marvels.
I would not have come hither[2] out of it,
Had I not come with Noisi.
Beloved are Dun Fidga and Dun Finn,
Beloved is the fortress above them,
Beloved is the Isle of the Thorn-bush,
And beloved is Dun Sweeny.
Caill Cuan!
Unto which Ainnle would go, alas!
Short we thought the time there,
Noisi and I in the land of Alba.
Glen Lay!
There I used to sleep under a shapely rock.
Fish and venison and badger's fat,
That was my portion in Glen Lay.
Glen Massan!
Tall is its wild garlic, white are its stalks:
We used to have a broken sleep
On the grassy river-mouth of Massan.
Glen Etive!
There I raised my first house.
Delightful its house! when we rose in the
morning
A sunny cattle-fold was Glen Etive.
Glen Urchain!
That was the straight, fair-ridged glen!
Never was man of his age prouder
Than Noisi in Glen Urchain.
Glen Da Ruadh!
Hail to him who hath it as an heritage!
Sweet is the cuckoo's voice on bending branch
On the peak above Glen Da Ruadh.
Beloved is Draighen over a firm beach!
Beloved its water in pure sand!
I would never have left it, from the east,
Had I not come with my beloved.