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Leanabh an àigh, an Leanabh aig Màiri,

Rugadh san stàball, Rìgh nan Dùl;

Thàinig don fhàsach, dh’fhuiling nar n-àite

Son’ iad an àireamh bhitheas dhà dlùth!

Sin agaibh a’ chiad rann dhen laoidh ainmeil, Leanabh an Àigh. ʼS e laoidh brèagha, fonnmhor a tha ann. Bha riamh ceist agam mu dheidhinn aon fhacail, ge-tà. Mar as trice, ʼs e Moire no Muire a chanas sinn ann an Gàidhlig ri màthair Ìosa. Ach, anns an òran, ʼs e ‘Màiri’ a tha ann.

ʼS e tè à Muile, air an robh Màiri mar ainm, a sgrìobh an laoidh. B’ ise Màiri NicDhùghaill. Bhuineadh i don Ros Mhuileach faisg air Bun Easan. Na bu tràithe dhen t-samhradh seo, bha daoine a’ comharrachadh ceud gu leth bliadhna on a chaochail i. 

Bha Màiri na Crìosdaidh. Bha a h-athair na shearmonaiche Baisteach. Bha Màiri fhèin na Baisteach fad a beatha. Phòs i fear Niall Dòmhnallach. Bha iad ri croitearachd faisg air Bun Easan. Cha chreid mi gun robh Beurla sam bith aice.

Sgrìobh Màiri na briathran airson Leanabh an Àigh, ach tha e coltach gun robh am fonn mòran na bu shine. Seo agaibh an dàrna rann:

Ged a bhios leanaban aig rìghrean na talmhainn,

An greadhnachas àrd is anabarr mùirn,

ʼS geàrr gus am falbh iad, ʼs fàsaidh iad anfhann,

An àilleachd ʼs an dealbh aʼ searg san ùir.

Nochd Leanabh an Àigh ann an clò an dèidh bàs Màiri. Agus bha e air eadar-theangachadh gu Beurla cuideachd. Ann an naoi ceud deug, trithead ʼs a h-aon (1931), nochd faclan Beurla co-cheangailte ris an aon fhonn. B’ e sin ‘Morning has Broken’, laoidh a bh’ air a sheinn gu tric aig tiodhlacaidhean. Rinn an seinneadair Cat Stevens – no Yusuf Islam – an laoidh sin ainmeil anns na seachdadan. 

Seo agaibh an rann mu dheireadh dheth:

Leanabh an àigh mar dhʼaithris na fàidhean,

ʼS na h-aingealan àrd, b’ e miann an sùl,

ʼS e ʼs airidh air gràdh ʼs ar n-urram thoirt dha.

Sona an àireamh [a] bhitheas dha dlùth.

Child of joy, Mary’s child,

Born in the stable, King of the Universe.

Who came to the wilderness and suffered in our place,

Happy are those who are close to him!

That is the first verse of the famous hymn, Leanabh an Àigh. It’s a beautiful, tuneful hymn. I’ve always had a question about one word, however. Usually, it’s Moire or Muire we say in Gaelic for Jesus’s mother. But, in the song, she is ‘Màiri’.

It’s a woman from Mull, who was named Mary, that wrote the hymn. She was Mary MacDougal. She belonged to the Ross of Mull near Bunessan. Earlier this summer, people were marking a hundred and fifty years since she died.

Mary was a Christian. Her father was a Baptist preacher. Mary herself was a Baptist all her life. She married Neil MacDonald. They were crofting near Bunessan. I don’t think she spoke any English.

Mary wrote the words for Leanabh an Àigh, but it appears that the tune was much older. Here is the second verse:

Although the kings of the earth have children,

In great pomp and much joy,

They leave soon and grow weak,

Their beauty and form withering in the soil.

Leanabh an Àigh appeared in print after Mary’s death. And it was also translated into English. In 1931, English words appeared that were connected with the same tune. That was ‘Morning has Broken’, a hymn that was often sung at funerals. The singer Cat Stevens – or Yusuf Islam – made that hymn famous in the seventies.

Here is its last verse:

Child of joy as the prophets foretold,

And the high angels, he was the desire of their eyes,

It is he that deserves our love and respect.

Happy are those who are close to him.