Annotation:Is truagh nach d'rugadh dall mi
X:1 % T:Is truagh nach d'rugadh dall mi T:Alas that I was not born blind C:William Ross (1762-c. 1791). M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Slow Air K:D A,|D3 (G2A)|B3 (AB2)|A3 (FED)|G3 A2B| (FA2) (FE2)|D3 (E2F)|A,3 B,A,B,|(D3 D2)||
IS TRUAGH NACH D'RUGADH DALL MI (I wish I had been born blind). AKA and see "Filoro," "Touch of Gaelic." Scottish, Slow Air (6/8 or 3/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. A song of unrequited love from the pen of bard Uilleam Ros/William Ross (1762-c. 1791), of Skye, that has been set to several different airs. William's parents had taken their children to Forres to complete their education in the classics, and, that being completed, William was set to work in his father's business in Gairloch, a community on the shores of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. He was still in his teens when he was sent on business to Stornoway, Skye, where he met Marion and fell in deeply in love. Difficulties arose, however, as the long-distance relationship required a journey back and forth from Gairloch to Stornoway (across the divide of the often uncertain Minch). More distressing to his hopes, however, was the fact the Marion seemed unimpressed with him or the romantic poems he sent her. She had set her sights on a more suitable match, and in 1782 she wed a Captain Clough, who sailed a ship from his home port of Liverpool to Stornoway and other environs. She left with him for the English city, and William (then aged 19) was heartbroken. Ross was said to have died of a broken heart; a romantic notion, but William actually died of consumption (tuberculosis).
His song begins:
Is truagh nach d' rugadh dall mi
Gun chainnt is gun lèirsinn
Mas fhac' mi t'aghaidh bhaindid
Rinn aimhleas nan ceudan
Bho'n chunnaic mi bho thùs thu
Bu chliùteach do bheusa
Gum b' fhasa leam am bàs
Na bhith làthair as t'eugmhai
CHORUS:
Filoro, filoro, filoro hug eil
Filoro, filoro, filoro hug eil
Air fail ili o agus ho ro hug eile
Chan fhaigh mi cadal sàmhach
A ghràidh, 's gun thu rèidh rium
Oh that I were born blind
Without speech and sight
Before I saw your feminine face
Which has been the ruin of hundreds
From when I first saw you
Your conduct was renowned
It would be easier for me to die
Than to live without you
CHORUS:
Filoro, filoro, filoro hug eil
Filoro, filoro, filoro hug eil
Air fail ili o agus ho ro hug eile
I will not sleep soundly
My love, if we are not reconcile