An Mhaighdean Mhara - The Sea Maiden

Máire an tSeilcí

This is about a man who married a sea maiden and raised a family with her and she later returned to the sea. This tale is common in the oral tradition in Ireland and the countries of Northwestern Europe.

This song is a conversation between a sea maiden and her daughter, Máire. The maiden lost her seal skin when she came ashore years before and married a mere mortal. She raised a family with this mortal man but she must now leave her family, return to the sea, there to swim on forever now that she has found her seal skin again. Her leaving is the reason that the song is so sorrowful a lament. This version comes from the singing of Áine Uí Laoi, Dobhair Láir, Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Dhún na nGall, who learned it from Síle Mhic� Uí Ghallchóir. Síle called the song "Amhrán Thoraí" and knew many more verses to it. The last verse of this song is sung at the end of the film called the Secret of Roan Inish. (The secret of the Island of the Seals) It's a great film, check it out if you can.

Traidisiúnta
Is cosúil gur mheath tú nó gur thréig tú an greann.
Tá an sneachta go frasach fá bhéal na trá.
Do chúl buí daite is do bhéílín sámh.
Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.

Traditional
It seems that you have faded away and abandoned the love of life.
The snow is spread about at the mouth of the sea.
Your yellow flowing hair and little gentle mouth.
Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.

‘A mháithrín mhilis’, duirt Máire bhán
Fá bhruach an chladaigh is fá bhéal na trá
‘Maighdean mhara mo mháithrín ard’.
Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.

‘My dear mother,’ said blonde Mary
By the edge of the shore and the mouth of the sea
‘A mermaid is my noble mother’.
Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.

Tá mise tuirseach agus beidh go lá.
Mo Mháire bhruinneall is mo Phádraig bán.
Ar bharr na dtonnta is fá bhéal na trá,
Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.

I am tired and will be forever,
My fair Mary and my blond Patrick.
On top of the waves and by the mouth of the sea,
Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.

Tá an oíche seo dorcha is tá an ghaoth i ndroch aird.
Tá an tSeisreach ‘na seasamh ins na spéarthaí go hard.
Ach ar bharr na dtonnta is fá bhéal na trá
Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.

The night is dark and the wind is high.
The Plough* can be seen high in the sky.
But on top of the waves and by the mouth of the sea,
Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.

* The Plough referred to is called the Big Dipper in the United States.

The March 3, 1995 film, the Secret of Roan Inish. was written and directed by John Sayles, photographed by Haskell Wexler and based on this poem and the oral tradition about the Selkies in the West of Ireland.

An Rún ar Rón Inis - The Secret of Roan Inish
One day, many years ago, an ancestor of Fiona, the young girl in the film, saw a beautiful creature sunning by the sea. She was both woman and seal. We would call her a mermaid, but on that western coast of Ireland such creatures were well-known as Selkies.
The man trapped the creature and married her, and they had children together and lived happily, although she seemed to long for the sea. One day she learned where her husband had hidden her sealskin, up under the roof, and she put it back on, and returned to the sea.
Fiona (Jeni Courtney), who is 12 or 13 years old, is told this story by a relative. It is not told as a "fairy tale" but as an account of family history, to be taken quite seriously. And well might Fiona believe it, because ever since there have been fair-haired children in her family who were said to throw back to the Selkie, and whose eyes turned yearningly to the sea.
The year is about 1946. Fiona's mother has died, and her father can barely be budged from his mourning in the pub. She is sent to live with her grandparents, on a sea coast across from the island of Roan Inish, where the whole family once lived. There she learns the story of her little brother Jamie, whose cradle was carried off by the waves. And there, with her grandparents and her cousin Eamon (Richard Sheridan), she first explores Roan Inish, which means, in Gaelic, "island of the seals."
The secret of John Sayles, "The Secret of Roan Inish" is that it tells of this young girl with perfect seriousness. This is not a children's movie, not a fantasy, not cute, not fanciful. It is the exhilarating account of the way Fiona rediscovers her family's history and reclaims their island. If by any chance you do not believe in Selkies, please at least keep an open mind, because in this film Selkies exist in the real world, just like you and me.
On Roan Inish, the girl sees a child's footprint. Then she sees the child - Jamie! - running on the sand. She calls to him, but he gets back into his cradle, which is borne out to sea by friendly seals. Of course it is hard to convince grownups of what she has seen.
In the meantime, her grandparents face eviction from their cottage, which is to be sold to rich folks from the city. They may have to move inland. "To move off of Roan Inish was bad enough," Fiona's grandmother says, "but to move out of sight of the sea . . ." She shakes her head, making it clear that it would kill the grandfather, who thinks of the city as "nothing but noise and dirt and people that's lost their senses!"
Can Fiona and Eamon, her young cousin, restore the family's old cottages on Roan Inish? Can she reclaim Jamie from the sea? I found myself actually caring. John Sayles and Haskell Wexler, who has photographed this movie with great beauty and precision, have ennobled the material. There is a scene where a person numbed by the cold sea is warmed between two cows, and we feel close to the earth, and protected.
One can easily guess how this legend could have been simplified and jollied up in other hands - how it could have been about cute little Selkies. But legends are, after all, told by adults, not children, and usually they record something essential to the culture that produces them. What this legend says, I think, is that the people who tell it live on the land but live from the sea, so that their loyalties are forever divided.
"The Secret of Roan Inish" is a film for children and teenagers like Fiona, who can envision changing their family's fate. It is also for adults, of course, except for those who think they do not want to see a film about anything so preposterous as a seal-woman, and who will get what they deserve. ... First Look Pictures, 103 minutes.
Review by Roger Ebert

Courtesy of Vivian & Jack. IrishPage.com October 5, 2004.
Corrections by Frank Osborne of Kansas City, Missouri
Replay background music Maighdean Mhara

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Don liosta arís

Traidisiúnta Is cosúil gur mheath tú nó gur thréig tú an greann. Tá an sneachta go frasach fá bhéal na trá. Do chúl buí daite is do bhéílín sámh. Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.	Traditional It seems that you have faded away and abandoned the love of life. The snow is spread about at the mouth of the sea. Your yellow flowing hair and little gentle mouth. Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.
‘A mháithrín mhilis’, duirt Máire bhán Fá bhruach an chladaigh is fá bhéal na trá ‘Maighdean mhara mo mháithrín ard’. Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.	‘My dear mother,’ said blonde Mary By the edge of the shore and the mouth of the sea ‘A mermaid is my noble mother’. Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.
Tá mise tuirseach agus beidh go lá. Mo Mháire bhruinneall is mo Phádraig bán. Ar bharr na dtonnta is fá bhéal na trá, Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.	I am tired and will be forever, My fair Mary and my blond Patrick. On top of the waves and by the mouth of the sea, Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.
Tá an oíche seo dorcha is tá an ghaoth i ndroch aird. Tá an tSeisreach ‘na seasamh ins na spéarthaí go hard. Ach ar bharr na dtonnta is fá bhéal na trá Siúd chugaibh Máire Chinidh is í i ndiaidh an Éirne snámh.	The night is dark and the wind is high. The Plough* can be seen high in the sky. But on top of the waves and by the mouth of the sea, Here's to you all, Mary Kenny to swim forever in the Erne.