Eleanóir na rún
Mo ghrá den chéad fhéachaint thú, ‘Eleanóir na rún,
Is ortsa a bhím a’ smaoineamh, tráth a mbím ar mo shuan.
Mo ghrá den tsaol thú ‘s mo chéad searc,
‘s tú is deise ná ban Éireann.
‘S bhruinnillín deas óg, ‘s tú is deise is milse póg,
Chúns a mhairfeadsa beo, beidh gean a’m ort,
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn na gamhna leat, ’Eleanóir na rún.
Bhí bua aici go meallfadh sí na héanlaith ón gcrann,
Is bhí bua eile aici go dtóigfeadh sí an corp fuar ón mbás.
’S bhí bua eile aici nach ndéarfaidh mé
‘S í grá mo chroí is mo chéad searc.
’S a bhruinnillín deas óg, ’s tú is deise is milse póg,
Chúns a mhairfeadsa beo, beidh gean a’m ort,
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn na gamhna leat,’Eleanóir na rún.
’S an dtiocfaidh tú nó ’bhfanfaidh tú, a Eleanóir, a rún?
Nó an aithneofá an té nach gcáinfeadh thú, mo chuid don tsaol is a stór?
Ó tiocfaidh mé ach ní fhanfaidh mé,
Is maith a d’aithneoinn an té nach gcáinfeadh mé.
’S a bhruinnillín deas óg, is tú is deise is milse póg,
Ach chúns a mhairfeadsa beo, beidh gean a’m ort,
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn na gamhna leat, ’Eleanóir na rún.
This love song ‘Eleanóir a Rún’, in the form of a dialogue, was composed in the sixteenth century but became attributed to the early seventeenth century harper Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh because of his love poems to Eleanor Cavanagh, daughter of Sir Morgen Cavanagh of Clonmullen Castle, Co. Carlow.
Irish folklore recounts how Eileanóir Chaomhánach eloped with Cearbhall the day she was about to marry another man. Cearbhall arrived at the wedding to play music at the wedding feast, and fell in love with the bride. He composed the song Eileanóir a Rún to woo the bride.
The melody of the song was included in Charles Coffey's opera The Beggar's Wedding in 1728 and Edward Bunting published a variant of the air in his A General Collection of Ancient Irish Music (1796) which he collected from the harper Denis Hempson.
