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Song by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh; arranged by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Mark Kelly, Ciaran Curran, Dermot Byrne and Ciaran Tourish. This song appears on Altan’s eighth studio album The Blue Idol, released in February 2002.
This strange little songs tells the story of a man whose wife was lured away by the Gruagach, a hairy Otherworld figure, whose name may contain a double-entendre. The title, which is also used as a chorus, is essentially untranslatable but makes reference to a cuckoo and a yellow blackbird! On Tory Island it is widely believed that the song was got from the slua sí, or fairies. James Stephens translated a version of this song as ‘The Brown and the Yellow Ale’, and it was reputed to be the favourite song of the great Irish writer, James Joyce.
Bhí mise's mo bhean bheag Lá gabháil a' bóthar 'S oró grá mo chroí Is cé chásfaidh dúinn Ach Gruagach an óir bhuí Cuach mo lon dubh buí
D'fhiafair sí domhsa An 'níon domh an óigbhean 'S oró grá mo chroí A's dúirt mé féin Gurb í mo bhean phósta í Cuach mo lon dubh buí
d'Tabharfaidh tú domhsa Choíche go deo í? 'S oró grá mo chroí Muna ndéanfaidh tú sin liom Dhéanfaidh mé' n cóir leat Cuach mo lon dubh buí
Gabh thusa 'na mullaí 'Gus mise 'na móinte 'S oró grá mo chroí 'S ca bith fear a leanfaidh sí Bíodh sí go deo aige Cuach mo lon dubh buí
Chuaigh seisean 'na mullaí 'Gus mise 'na móinte 'S oró grá mo chroí 'Gus lean sí an Gruagach, B'aige a bhí 'n óige Cuach mo lon dubh buí
D'fhill mé 'na bhaile Go buartha cráite 'S oró grá mo chroí 'Gus shuigh mé síos Ar mo leabaidh trí ráithe Cuach mo lon dubh buí
D'fhan sí amuigh aige Bliain is trí ráithe 'S oró grá mo chroí Agus tháinig sí 'na bhaile, Mo Mhallaí gan náire Cuach mo lon dubh buí
A ghiolla adaí istigh Caidé mar atá tú? 'S oró grá mo chroí Mar is olc le mo charaid Is maith liom mo námhaid Cuach mo lon dubh buí
Caidé a dhéanfá Dá bhfaighinnse bás uait? 'S oró grá mo chroí Chuirfinn ort cónair Dara na gcúig gclár Cuach mo lon dubh buí
Cuach inniu agus cuach amárach 'S oró grá mo chroí 'Gus cuach bheag eile Achan lá go ceann ráithe Cuach mo lon dubh buí
Myself and my wife Were walking the highway Oh love of my heart And whom should we meet But the Golden Haired Groogach Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
He asked me to say If my wife was my daughter Oh love of my heart I answered him truly She was my life partner Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
Will you give her to me For life and for ever? Oh love of my heart And if you refuse me I'm likely to harm you Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
You go the highways And I'll go go the byways Oh love of my heart And whoever she follows Can claim her for ever Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
He went the highways And I went the byways Oh love of my heart So she followed the Groogach As he was the younger Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
I returned to my home Dejected and broken Oh love of my heart For three quarters I lay down alone and forlorn Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
She stayed with the Groogach For a year and three quarters Oh love of my heart And then she returned, A disgraced and shamed "molly" Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
Oh, servant in yonder How well are you feeling? Oh love of my heart In spite of my friends I still like my enemies Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
What would you do If in death I should leave you? Oh love of my heart With five oaken boards I'd make a coffin to suit you Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
A hug today and a hug tomorrow Oh love of my heart And another wee hug Everday through the season Cooach mo Lon Du Bui
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