80 



CAT 



An tu chaidh fo'n Icirg a null 

 An la sin a shcalg nam heann 

 No 'n tu chuir an t-suil fa 'n toll 

 No *n tu chrom gu cunntas thall 



An tu chuidh gu Communach ciuin 

 Gu bruth-soluis nam ban saor? 

 Le maisealachd do dha shul 

 Dh' fhag thu triuir dhiubh an trom 

 ghaol. 



Mo thruaighe thusa Dhonnachaidh 

 Cha do thachair dhuit bhi ffirchaidh 

 Ma bhcirear ort a nochd ionnsuidh, 

 lonnsaichear dhuit air a chroich 

 dannsa! 



Dona sin, a chait na cluaise 

 Tachdar thusa'n geall a chaise 

 locaidh do mhuineal a srauais as 

 'S i 'n uair so deireadh do lath'sa. 



A chait chruaidh bu mhath do chliu 

 Bu luthrahor thu bho'n am so'n de 

 Miad nam builean fhuair do chroit 

 Thug iad dhiot an gruth 's an ce. 



Dh' aithn' eas nach bu dileas duit 

 Lamhan Catriona gu trie 

 Miad nan urchair a chaidh thart' 

 Dhuits' a chait, cha chunradh glic ! 



B'fhearr dhuit 'bhi marbhadh luchag 

 An t-sealg an bu dual do phiseig 

 'Dol do'n bheinn a' mharbhadh uiseag 

 Air feadh chuiseag agus dhriseag. 



Was it you went over the plain 



Yon day to hunt in the hilLs ? 



Or was it you who looked 'neath the 



hole 

 Or lent yourself to tale-telling 



yonder ? 



Or was it you who went to the peace- 

 ful Comnmnion 

 The free woman's dwelling of light? 

 By the attraction of your two eyes 

 You left three of them there in love. 



Pity you Duncan, 



You did not happen to be in hiding. 

 If an attack be mtide on you to-night 

 You will learn to dance on the 

 gallows ! 



That's bad, O cat of the ears. 

 You will be choked, you cheese- 

 lover, 

 A broken neck shall repay you. 

 Your last day has now come ! 



You hardy cat your fame is great 

 Active you've been since yesterday. 

 By all the strokes showered on your 



back 

 They took from you the curds and 



cream. 



You knew that Catherine's hands 



were not 

 Always faithful unto you. 

 By all the shots that o'er you passed, 

 A wise arrangement for thee, O cat ! 



You'd better had been killing mice. 

 The hereditary game for kittens. 

 Going to the hill to slaughter larks 

 Amon;? the rushes and brambles. 



Another humorous poem in Gaelic, which consists of seven 

 double verses and a chorus, is called "Oran nan cat." It was 

 composed by one Niall ruadh mor or Niall mor ruadh, Neil 

 Mac Vicar of Valley, North Uist, on the fate of a set of bagpipes, 

 the skin bag of which had been devoured by some hungry horde 

 of them. The piper is made to deplore the tragic fate of what 

 he calls his emit ch'mil whose "chords" were so rudely torn 

 asunder, while the cats, sadder and wiser, are made to express 

 their respective opinions on and reminiscences of their destructive 

 conviviality. A Celtic legendary tale of the fifteenth century, 

 entitled " Merlin," sets forth " Khig Arthur's fight with the 

 great cat." It is in prose. 



