Tune Type: Song
Alternative Titles*: Cailleach an Airgead / Callagh An Airgid / Hag with the Money / Hag with Money / Is Í Do Mhamó Í / Sí Do Mhaimeo Í / ‘Sí Do Mhamó Í / Sí do Mhamó í / Si do Mhaimeo Í / Wealthy Widow / She’s Your Granny / I Was Born for Sport / My Brother Tom
Unique Word Count: 138
Context:
Joe Heaney said that this song was written about his mother’s grandmother, Máire Ní Cháthasaigh from Muigh-Inis, an island near Carna. In this song Máire is given the title of ‘Cailleach an Airgid’, the hag with the money, and the singers question whether she will marry or not, etc. Máire was reputed to be so strong, ‘that they reckoned that if she went into a rowing-boat and started rowing against the steamboat she’d have beaten the steamboat, she was that strong.’
This is illustrated in verse 3: ‘S dá ‘bhfeicfeása ‘n “steam” ‘g dhul siar Tóin Uí Loing means ‘If you saw the steamboat heading west past Flynn’s Point’. The verse then plays with language to personify the steamboat as a woman: the line ‘na rothaí ‘g dhul timpeall siar óna ceathrúnaí’ literally means ‘The wheels going around her thighs’, but figuratively refers to the wheels of the steamboat being at the rear of the boat. ‘Chasfadh sí ‘n stiúir naoi n-uair’ ar a cúl’ literally means ‘She would turn the rudder nine times at her back’, but is a figurative reference to the rudder at the back of the steamboat. The imagery employed gives an impression of the steamboat being driven with great effort and speed. Nonetheless, the last line of the verse is ‘S ní choinneodh sí siúl le cailleach an airgid’ meaning ‘And [the steamboat] wouldn’t keep up with the hag with money’, thus reinforcing Máire’s reputation for extraordinary strength.
Verses 4-6 in this song are about holes in Grandad’s fishing net; they might have been written after verses 1-3. (See Rogha Amhrán (Cló Iar-Chonnachta 1999) ).
Cúrfá: 'Sí do mhaimeo í, 'sí do mhaimeo í 'Sí do mhaimeo í cailleach an airgid 'Sí do mhaimeo í, ó thóin Iorrais Mhóir í 'S chuirfeadh sí cóistí ar bhóithrí Chois Fharraige Is a measann tú 'bpósfaidh, measann tú 'bpósfaidh 'Measann tú 'bpósfaidh cailleach an airgid? Tá 's a'm nach 'bpósfaidh, tá 's a'm nach 'bpósfaidh Mar tá sé ró-óg, agus d’ólfadh sé 'n t-airgead Cúrfá ‘S dá 'bhfeicfeása 'n "steam" 'g dhul siar Tóin Uí Loing 'S na rothaí ‘g dhul timpeall siar óna ceathrúnaí Chasfadh sí 'n stiúir naoi n-uair' ar a cúl 'S ní choinneodh sí siúl le cailleach an airgid Cúrfá 'S gairid go 'bpósfaidh, 's gairid go 'bpósfaidh 'S gairid go 'bpósfaidh beirt ar an mbaile seo 'S gairid go 'bpósfaidh, 's gairid go 'bpósfaidh Séan Shéamais Mhóir agus Máire Ní Chathasaigh Cúrfá Bhí mise aréir i mbealach a' chinn Mo chuid eangacha sínte a'm siar leis an bhfarraige Ach céad faraor géar déanadh orm sléacht Ó tháinig na fíogaigh is rinneadar slad orm Cúrfá Nuair a bhí mo dhaideó ina leaidín beag óg Ó cheannaigh sé an eangach seo thiar i gCois Fharraige B’fhearr liomsa go mór mo dhá láimh a dhó Ná eangach Dhaideó a bheith caite cois balla agam. Cúrfá Eirigh suas a Sheáin, is beir ar do bhiorán, Agus féach a ndeasófá píosa den eangach seo Mar bhí sé do dhream is tá sé do láimh ‘S ba mhaith an fear bháid thú ar thalamh ‘s ar fharraige! Curfá deiridh: 'Sí do mhaimeo í, 'sí do mhaimeo í 'Sí do mhaimeo í cailleach an airgid 'Sí do mhaimeo í, ó thóin Iorrais Mhóir í 'S d’íosfadh sí feoil on Friday and Saturday!
*Taken with thanks from www.irishtune.info