Living

Ho, My Heifer!

by Anonymous (Scottish Gaelic) traditional; collected in the Highlands and Islands 1855–1899

Translated by Alexander Carmichael (1900) · From Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900): Labour

Living

The night the Herdsman was out
No shackle went on a cow,
Lowing ceased not from the mouth of calf
Wailing the Herdsman of the flock,
Wailing the herdsman of the flock.

Ho my heifer! ho my heifer!
Ho my heifer! my heifer beloved!
My heartling heart, kind, fond,
For the sake of the High King take to thy calf.

The night the Herdsman was missing,
In the Temple He was found.
The King of the moon to come hither!
The King of the sun down from heaven!
King of the sun down from heaven!

✦ ✦ ✦

Gaelic: Ho M’ Aghan. Carmina Gadelica I, no. 97, Labour.

MLA

Anonymous (Scottish Gaelic). “Ho, My Heifer!” Translated by Alexander Carmichael. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-scottish-gaelic/96/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Scottish Gaelic). “Ho, My Heifer!” Translated by Alexander Carmichael. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-scottish-gaelic/96/.

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