Simon Chadwick - Old Gaelic Laments

Track 13: A Stáraí a Ghoid mo Chlú-sa Uaim

 

 This tune has three different titles. I assume the Gaelic title is the first line of a lost song; it translates “Oh you rogue or thief who stole my health away from me”. The second title is The Golden Star which I am taking as an incompetent phonetic rendering of “A Stáraí a Ghoid”. And the third is The Jointure , which refers to a widow's allowance after the death of her husband. So I am interpreting this song as a kind of love song lament. It comes from Neal’s printed book, but Bunting's manuscripts include a similar version with the same jig at the end.

 

© Simon Chadwick 2012 - earlygaelicharp.info/laments