HO, MY HEIFER!

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!

 

The full volumes of the Carmina Gadelica collected by Alexander Carmichael can be read in English and Gaelic at www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/Carmina