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Song entitled 'Bron Binn no Laoidh Mhic Righ Breithtean', c1875

 Item
Identifier: Coll-97/CW112/71

Scope and Contents

Song entitled 'Bron Binn no Laoidh Mhic Righ Breithtean' [The Sweet Sorrow] beginning 'La chaidh Astar nan Stuadh, Gu tulaich nam breach a shealg/ruadh'. The song tells how Sir Gawain went in search of a young woman King Arthur had dreamt about and found her. Then another warrior, named Bile, appeared and challenged him, telling how he had killed two children of the King of Greece and that the third they had killed themself. Bile challenges Gawain to dig a grave for these children but the young woman jumps into it and dies. It is composed of one hundred and one lines. Later annotations in pencil divide the song into thirty verses and suggest alternative words in some lines. No informant has been given for this song although a number of lines have been left at the beginning as if Carmichael had intended to add that information in.

Dates

  • Creation: c1875

Language of Materials

Gaelic

Conditions Governing Access

This material is unrestricted.

Extent

From the Series: 183 folios ; 20 x 23.8cm

Physical Location

5.07

Physical Location

folio 156v, line 1 to folio 158v, line 21

Related Materials

Coll-97/CW112/72 another version of this item.

Coll-97/CW113/4 - another copy of this item from the same informant.

Coll-97/CW159

Bibliography

'Am Bron Binn', The Highlander (11 March 1876)
Campbell, J. F., Leabhar na Féinne (London, 1872), p. 208.
Carmichael, Alexander, Carmina Gadelica, vol V, (Edinburgh, 1954), pp. 100-5.
Gowans, Linda, Am Bròn Binn: An Arthurian Ballad in Scottish Gaelic (Eastbourne, 1992), pp. 8-9, 19, 30-2.
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/gd/fullrecord/33071/1

Repository Details

Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository

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