Alasdair MacColla
This is a traditional Scottish Gaelic song, arranged by Ciarán Brennan. It appears on Clannad’s album Lore, released in 1995.
Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich MacDhòmhnaill (c. 1610 – 13 November 1647) was a Gaelic warrior from the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg who were a branch of the Clan Donald active in the Hebrides and Ireland. He is best known for his participation in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. His name was Scottish Gaelic and meant ‘Alexander the son of Coll the Left-handed MacDonald’. Older texts sometimes refer to him as “Collkitto”, an anglicised spelling of Coll Chiotaich, a nickname properly belonging to his father, Coll Macdonald.
Mac Colla fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, being involved in the Irish Confederate Wars and most notably in Montrose’s campaign in Scotland. In the latter campaign he was given a knighthood; as a result his name is often given as Sir Alexander Macdonald. He died in 1647 at the Battle of Knocknanuss. Mac Colla is particularly notable for the very large number of oral traditions and legends which his life inspired in the Highlands.
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English
Alexander son, o ho
Of gallant Cholla, o ho
Into your hand, o ho
I would heroic entrust deeds
Chorus:
Chall eile bho chall a ho ro
Chall eile bho chall a ho ro
Chall eile huraibh i chall a ho ro
Haoi o ho trom eile
Into your hand, o ho
I would entrust heroic deeds, o ho
The Lord of Ach-nam-breac, o ho
Would be killed by you, trom eile
(Chorus)
The Lord of Ach-nam-breac, o ho
Would be killed by you, o ho
He would be buried, o ho
At the edge of the loch, trom eile
(Chorus)
And although I myself was small, o ho
I threw a clot of earth on him, o ho
I heard yesterday, o ho
A sad story, trom eile
(Chorus)
I heard yesterday, o ho
A sad story, o ho
That Glasgow, o ho
Was going down, trom eile
(Chorus)
That Glasgow, o ho
Was going down, o ho
And Aberdeen, o ho
Is being pillaged, trom eile