Tha mi Sgìth / Buain na Rainich (I am Tired / Cutting the Bracken)

This is an absolute classic Port à Beul in strathspey time. There have been many versions of this song sung in Gàidhlig, and arrangements for pipes in different rhythms and time signatures.

This version is based on the singing of Annie Arnott, which can be found here: https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/99797?l=en

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Annie Arnott

Annie is a legendary figure in the world of Gàidhlig song. She has hundreds of recordings on Tobar an Dualchais. If you spend time listening to her song versions and you’ll quickly notice a lot of overlap with great recordings of today.

I had a wonderful opportunity to share some more of Annie’s songs on Wetootwaag’s Bagpipe and History Podcast, and hope to follow up with more Annie episodes in the future.

Lyrics and Interpretation

The two typical titles for this song are Tha mi Sgìth ‘s mi Leam Fhìn (I am Tired, and I am Alone) and Buain na Rainich (Cutting the Bracken). The lyrics are the lament of a person compelled to cut bracken forever, tired and alone, and longing for their their lost love.

Often this is interpreted as the story of a sìth (faerie) who fell in love with a human and was trapped into servitude as a result.

However Seumas Gagne, avid harpist and Gàidhlig singer, has offered a different interpretation. The genre trappings of faerie songs don’t usually involve the faerie loving a mortal, and generally end in peril for the mortal involved.

So this story is likely reversed, where the mortal has been trapped the the Other Folk and compelled to cut bracken forever.