Mòrag, ‘s i Mòrag
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This is a lively tune! It’s a song about a boisterous wedding, at which a lady called Mòrag was the lucky bride. Several women are named in this song, but no men are named. This is a popular type of Gaelic song called Puirt à Beul, meaning ‘a tune from the mouth’ or ‘mouth music’. This type of song is often light-hearted, occasionally bawdy, in nature. This version is sung by Sìneag MacIntyre. Watch the video to get a feel for the song.
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As with many Gaelic songs, this has a simple chorus. We’ll begin with vocabulary:
| famous |
| wedding |
The first two lines are really simple to learn:
| It was Mòrag, it was Mòrag, It was Mòrag who had the wedding |
The final lines are also nice and simple to learn:
| It was Mòrag, it was Mòrag, Who had the famous wedding |
Are you feeling confident? Let’s put all four lines together and start to work on the complete chorus:
| It was Mòrag, it was Mòrag, It was Mòrag who had had the wedding, It was Mòrag, it was Mòrag, Who had the famous wedding |
How are you getting on? For the first verse, here’s the vocabulary you need:
| black |
| last year |
| year |
| day |
| ever |
The first two lines are commenting on the darkness of the bride’s hair:
| She was black-haired last year, And she's black-haired this year |
The second two lines continue:
| She’s been black-haired every day, That I have ever seen her |
Let’s put the four lines together:
| She was black-haired last year, And she's black-haired this year, She’s been black-haired ever since, I have ever seen her |
