Little by Little Beag air Bheag
Seallaibh Curaigh Eòghainn
This is a lovely wee Scottish Gaelic song which Joy has hand-picked to celebrate Scotland's Year of Coasts and Waters. It’s about a man called Eòghann (or Ewan) who is the captain of a magnificent coracle or boat and the singer is urging us to look at it as it passes the White Point. This is a popular type of Gaelic reel called Port à Beul, meaning ‘a tune from the mouth’ or ‘mouth music’. Port à Beul is often light-hearted, occasionally bawdy, in nature. This is Seallaibh Curaigh Eòghainn and this version is sung by Joy Dunlop. Watch the video then learn the song line-by-line. This video was originally filmed for LearnGaelic’s popular social media strand ‘Learn a Gaelic song’ and the format is slightly different.
Joy is so passionate about Gaelic she’s even urging you on in the language. Let’s get to grips with Joy’s enthusiastic praise!
Halò a chàirdean agus fàilte oirbh gu òran na seachdaine còmhla riumsa, Joy Dunlop
Hello friends and welcome to song of the week with me, Joy Dunlop
try that
great
very good
and again
then
1, 2, 3
fantastic
Now we have all that, you can praise everyone you meet today in Gaelic! Let’s learn the first line of the first verse:
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
A coracle is a boat.
Learn the tune.
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
Let’s learn the second line. To make life easy, Joy has broken this down into two parts. Please note the sentence makes more grammatical sense than the two parts individually.
And five oars
twenty on her
Put that together.
With twenty-five oars on her.
Sing along with Joy!
With twenty-five oars on her.
Put the first two lines together and sing loud!
O, seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn,
Is còig ràimh fhichead oirre.
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
With twenty-five oars on her.
The third line is almost a repeat of the first line, but drop the O.
Look at Ewan's coracle
Let's learn how to sing it!
Look at Ewan's coracle
Let’s sing the first three lines now!
O, seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn,
Is còig ràimh fhichead oirre.
Seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
With twenty-five oars on her.
Look at Ewan's coracle
Joy has broken down the final line of the verse into two parts just for you.
And she is passing ...
... The White Point
Put the whole sentence together.
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
And she is passing the White Point.
Let’s sing it
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
And she is passing the White Point.
And we will sing lines three and four together.
Seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Look at Ewan's coracle
And she is passing the White Point.
Are you feeling confident? Let’s put all the lines together and start to work on the complete first verse. Sing it twice!
O, seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn,
Is còig ràimh fhichead oirre.
Seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
O, seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn,
Is còig ràimh fhichead oirre.
Seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
With twenty-five oars on her.
Look at Ewan's coracle
And she is passing the White Point.
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
With twenty-five oars on her.
Look at Ewan's coracle
And she is passing the White Point.
This is the second part of a lovely wee Scottish Gaelic song which Joy has hand-picked to celebrate Scotland's Year of Coasts and Waters. This is the chorus of Seallaibh Curaigh Eòghainn and is sung by Joy Dunlop. Watch the video then learn the song line-by-line. This video was originally filmed for LearnGaelic’s popular social media strand ‘Learn a Gaelic song’ and the format is slightly different.
Joy used one more Gaelic line in the second video, so let's learn that first.
1, 2, 3, 4
Let’s learn the first line of the first chorus:
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Learn the tune.
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Let’s learn the second line.
Bidh Eòghann na sgiobair oirr'.
Ewan will be the captain on her.
Sing along with Joy!
Bidh Eòghann na sgiobair oirr'
Ewan will be the captain on he
Put the first two lines together and sing loud!
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann
Bidh Eòghann na sgiobair oirr'
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Ewan will be the captain on her.
The third line is a repeat of the first line.
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Let's learn how to sing it!
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
And the final line of the chorus is the same as the last line of the first verse.
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
And she is passing the White Point.
Let’s sing it
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
And she is passing the White Point.
Let’s sing the last two lines now!
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Ewan will be, Ewan will be,
And she is passing the White Point.
Are you feeling confident? Let’s put all the lines together and start to work on the complete chorus.
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann,
Bidh Eòghann na sgiobair oirr',
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann,
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Ewan will be the captain on her,
Ewan will be, Ewan will be,
And she is passing the White Point.
Are you feeling confident? Let’s put all the lines together and sing the song. It's on the next page.
Seallaibh Curaigh Eòghainn
The whole song together is:
O, seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn,
Is còig ràimh fhichead oirre.
Seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
O, seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn,
Is còig ràimh fhichead oirre.
Seallaibh curaigh Eòghainn
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann,
Bidh Eòghann na sgiobair oirr',
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann,
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann,
Bidh Eòghann na sgiobair oirr',
Bidh Eòghann, Bidh Eòghann,
'S i seachad air a' Rubha Bhàn.
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
With twenty-five oars on her.
Look at Ewan's coracle
And she is passing the White Point.
Oh, look at Ewan's coracle
With twenty-five oars on her.
Look at Ewan's coracle
And she is passing the White Point.
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Ewan will be the captain on her,
Ewan will be, Ewan will be,
And she is passing the White Point.
Ewan will be, Ewan will be
Ewan will be the captain on her,
Ewan will be, Ewan will be,
And she is passing the White Point.