Civil Irish and Wild Irish
Man who follow English ways, who cut short your curling hair, O slender hand of my choice, you are unlike the good son of Donnchadh!
If you were he, you would not give up your long hair (the best adornment in all the land of Ireland) for an affected English fashion, and your head would not be tonsured.
You think a shock of yellow hair unfashionable; he hates both the wearing of love-locks and being shaven-headed in the English manner
— how unlike are your ways!
E ghan Ban, the darling of noble women, is a man who never loved English customs; he has not set his heart on English ways, he has chosen the wild life rather.
Your ideas are nothing to E ghan Ban; he would give breeches away for a trifle, a man who asked no cloak but a rag, who had no desire for doublet and hose.
He would hate to have at his ankle a jewelled spur on a boot, or stockings in the English manner; he will allow no love-locks on him.
A blunt rapier which could not kill a fly, the son of Donnchadh does not think it handsome; nor the weight of an awl sticking out behind his rear as he goes to the hill of the assembly.
Little he cares for gold-embroidered cloaks, or for a high well-furnished ruff, or for a gold ring which would only be vexatious, or for a satin scarf down to his heels.
He does not set his heart on a feather bed, he would prefer to lie upon rushes; to the good son of Donnchadh a house of rough wattles is more comfortable than the battlements of a castle.
A troop of horse at the mouth of a pass, a wild fight, a ding-dong fray of footsoldiers, these are some of the delights of Donnchadh's son — and seeking contest with the foreigners.
You are unlike E ghan Ban ; men laugh at you as you put your foot on the mounting-block; it is a pity that you yourself don't see your errors, O man who follow English ways.
If you were he, you would not give up your long hair (the best adornment in all the land of Ireland) for an affected English fashion, and your head would not be tonsured.
You think a shock of yellow hair unfashionable; he hates both the wearing of love-locks and being shaven-headed in the English manner
— how unlike are your ways!
E ghan Ban, the darling of noble women, is a man who never loved English customs; he has not set his heart on English ways, he has chosen the wild life rather.
Your ideas are nothing to E ghan Ban; he would give breeches away for a trifle, a man who asked no cloak but a rag, who had no desire for doublet and hose.
He would hate to have at his ankle a jewelled spur on a boot, or stockings in the English manner; he will allow no love-locks on him.
A blunt rapier which could not kill a fly, the son of Donnchadh does not think it handsome; nor the weight of an awl sticking out behind his rear as he goes to the hill of the assembly.
Little he cares for gold-embroidered cloaks, or for a high well-furnished ruff, or for a gold ring which would only be vexatious, or for a satin scarf down to his heels.
He does not set his heart on a feather bed, he would prefer to lie upon rushes; to the good son of Donnchadh a house of rough wattles is more comfortable than the battlements of a castle.
A troop of horse at the mouth of a pass, a wild fight, a ding-dong fray of footsoldiers, these are some of the delights of Donnchadh's son — and seeking contest with the foreigners.
You are unlike E ghan Ban ; men laugh at you as you put your foot on the mounting-block; it is a pity that you yourself don't see your errors, O man who follow English ways.
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