| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Chionnee mee lioar da my phaitçhyn mee ny ghaa er dy henney, mychione ny feniee theayagh ayns ny h-ellanyn Goaldagh as aynjee ta skeeayl mychione Finn Mac Cooil. | I bought a book for my children a month or two ago, about the folk heroes in the British Isles and in it there is a story about Finn Mac Cooil. | |
| Agh ayns raa-foslee yn skeeayl ta reddyn ta mee sheiltyn [dy] by vie lhiu lhaih. | But in the introduction of the story there are things that I guess you would like to read. | |
| Er-y-fa shen, ta mee er jyndaa eh gys yn Ghailck as er-hoh yn raa-foslee. | Therefore, I have translated it into Manx, and here is the introduction. | |
| “Ta Finn mac Cooil, ny Fingal myr t’eh enmyssit ny keayrtyn, ny ’eniagh mooar ec ny Gaelgeyryn, as shynney lesh ny h-Albinee as Manninee eh wheesh as lesh ny Yernee. | “Finn mac Cooil, or Fingal as he is called sometimes, is a great hero of the speakers of Gaelic, and the Scottish and Manx like him as much as the Irish do. | |
| Ga dy vel yn boayl jeh ny treanidyn echey hoshiaght ayns yn Erin, ta ram enmyn-buill, as adsyn[1] kianlit dasyn, as da e cho-heshaghyn, er nyn skeayley dy lane harrish cheer sleitagh[2] as Oirr ny Gael, ta aarey dy chesmadyn creggagh enmysit ‘Ny Greeishyn ’Ingal’. | Although the place (location) of his exploits are at first in Ireland, there are many placenames that are connected to him and to his partnerships spread fully over over the Highlands and Argyle, (for instance) there is a ladder of rocky steps called ‘Fingal’s Steps (or Stairs)’. | |
|
[1] as adsyn] Here, the intended meaning is evidently ‘that are’.
[ta] would be expected here. (In Classical Manx
[as adsyn is usually found in phrases such as
[as adsyn ta ...] ‘and those that are ..’.]
[2] cheer sleitagh] ‘mountainous land’ —a calque on ‘the Highlands’. ‘The Scottish Highlands’ is more usually translated during the late 20th C as ‘Gaeltaght ny hAlbey’.
| ||
| Er [yn] Ellan Skianagh, ayns Keeil Voirrey (ayns y Vaarle ‘Kilmuir’), ta kiaddaghys creggey casley rish boal, roie seose ughtagh ta bunnys jeeragh, enmyssit ‘Boal ny Fianna’. | On the Isle of Skye in St Mary’s (in English ‘Kilmuir’), there is a rock formation that looks like a wall, running up a slope that is almost straight, called ‘The Wall of the Fiana’ (‘Garadh na Feinne’ in Scottish Gaelic). | |
| As ec kione logh Phurt Ree (ayns y Vaarle Loch Portree), ta slieau ayn enmyssit ‘soiag ’Ingal’. | And at the end of Loch Portree, there is a mountian called ‘Fingal’s Seat’ (‘Suidh Fhinn’). | |
| As er Staffa ta’n ‘ooig ’Ingal’ ardghooagh, ren ard-smooinaght y choyrt er Mendlessohn ry hoi yn Overture echey. | And on Staffa there is the famous cave of Fingal, that inspired Mendlessohn for his Overture. | |
| T’eh goll er sheiltyn dy cadjin dy ren Finn as e gheiney beaghey ayns y trass cheead A.D. | It is generally supposed that Finn and his men lived in the third century A.D. | |
| Chred ny screeudeyryn shennaghysagh[3] moghey dy h-Erin[4] dy nee ny Fianna sheshaght-chaggee beayn ec ny Ard-reeghyn cour jeeillyn ny Loghlinee, as dy row Finn, keayrt dy row, ny hoshiagh eck. | The early historical writers of Ireland believed that the Fianna were a standing[5] army of the High-Kings for the desolations of the Vikings, and that Finn, once upon a time, was a chieftan of it. | |
|
[3] shennaghysagh] ‘historical’. The expected way to translate ’historical’ would be to use ‘shennaghys’ in genitive position, acting as an attributive adjective, eg;
[screeudeyryn shennaghys-moghey Yernagh] ’writers of early Irish history’.
[4] dy h-Erin] — Evidently intended meaning is ‘of Ireland‘. See also;
[Yernagh],
[ny Haarey],
[ny hErin] etc.
[5] beayn] Here assumed to mean ‘standing’, as in ‘permanent’. An alternative reading might be; ‘eternal’.
| ||
| Agh cha nod yn daa ’haghader[6] shoh ve er nyn goyrt ry-cheilley[7], er-y-fa nagh hoie ny Loghlinee er yn Erin cho moghey [as] Finn as e gheiney as yn aght va dwoaie eddyr oc as ny Loghlinee. | But these two traditions cannot be put together because the Vikings did not settle on Ireland as early as Finn and his men and the way there was hatred between them and the Vikings. | |
|
[6] shaghader] see
[shaghadey] ‘tradition’.
[7] er nyn goyrt ry-cheilley] literally ‘put together’ although the intended meaning seems to be ‘reconciled’ for which we might expect
[coardit ry-cheilley].
| ||
| Ny yeih, gyn ourys ta shoh kinjagh rish [sic] yn aght dy [sic] ren ny insheyderyn-skeeayl, ayns yn hoghtoo, nuyoo as jeigoo keead, ny noidyn oc ec traa shen y choyrt stiagh ayns ny skeeaylyn, ayns ynnyd jeh ny shenn noidyn bunneydagh. | Nevertheless, no doubt this is because of the way that the storytellers in the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, put their enemies at that time into the stories, instead of the old original enemies. | |
| Va ny skeeaylyn shoh feer shenn hannah ec y traa shen. | These stories were already very old at that time. | |
| Ta ny fraueghyn [sic] ec yn chooid smoo jeh ny skeealyn, va goll er insh mychione Finn as ny Fianna, foddey ny shinney na’n trass cheead. | The roots of most of the stories, that were being told about Finn and the Fianna, are far older than the third century. | |
| As myrgeddin, ta skeeaylyn elley, as adsyn foddey ny s’jeiannee na’n trass cheead, er jymsaghey mygeayrt yn ennym echey. | And also, there are other stories, and they are far more modern than the third century, collected around his name. | |
| Car keeadyn dy vleeantyn, ta Finn mac Cooil er choyrt dooin sampleyr dy chreeaght, daanys as onnor; as ta (ny) shenn skeeaylyn shoh foast goll er insh ayns Gaeltaght ny h-Albey, N’Erin, as Mannin.” | During hundreds of years, Finn mac Cooil has given us an example of courage, boldness and honour; and these old stories are still being told in the Scottish Highlands, Ireland and the Isle of Man.” | |
| Ayns shiaghtinyn ry-heet, ta mee jerkal dy voddym chyndaa ’nane jeh ny skeeaylyn, as coyrt magh ee ayns yn colloo shoh. | In future weeks, I expect that I will be able to translate one of the stories and publish it in this column. | |
| Bee fys [eu] dy vel drane ny ghaa ayns nyn nGailck mychione Finn. | You will know that there is a poem or two in our Gaelic about Finn. | |
| (Foddee ’nane jeu ve feddynit ayns “Manx Ballads and Music” ec Moore). | (One of them them can be found in Moore’s “Manx Ballads and Music”) | |
| BRANLAADAGH. | BRANLAADAGH. | |