bardiphouka | not quite what you think

Clannad when cousin Enya was with them.

A bhonnáin bhuí 's é mo léan do luí
'S do chnámha sínte tar éis do ghrinn
'S ní easpa bidh, ach díobháil dí
A d'fhág 'do luí thú ar chúl do chinn
Is measa liom féin ná scrios na Traí
Tú a bheith 'do luí ar leaca lom'
Is nach ndearn' tú díth ná dola sa tír
'S nárbh fhearr leat fíon ná uisce poll

Ní hiad bhur n-éanlaith atá mé ag éagaoin
An chuach, an traonach ná'n chorr bhreac
Ach mo bhonnán buí, a bhí lán den chroí
'S gur chosúil liom féin é i nós 's i ndath
Bhíodh sé 'síoraí 'g ól na dí
Is deirtear go mbímse mar sin seal
Níl aon bhraon dá bhfaighinn nach ligfinn síos
Ar eagla go bhfaighinnse bás den tart

'S é 'd'iarr mo stór orm ligean den ól
Nó nach mbeinnse beo ach seal beag gearr
Ach dúirt mé léi gur thug sí an bhréag
Is gurbh fhaidide mo shaolsa an deoch úd 'fháil
Mar an bhfeiceann sibh éan an phíobáin réidh
A chuaigh in éag den tart ar ball?
'S, a chomharsana cléibhe, fliuchaigí bhur mbéal
Mar ní bhfaighidh sibh aon bhraon i ndiaidh bhur mbáis

And your bones there lying on bare flagstones
You did no harm at all in the country
And would just as prefer ditch water to wine
Had you only sent me a message
That you were in a quandry, in need of a drink
I would have broken the ice on the lake
To wet your beak and all the way down to your breast.

I'm not lamenting your ordinary birds
The cuckoo, the corncrake or the dappled heron
But the yellow bittern of the great heart
Who was just like me in many ways
He was always fond of the sup
And people say I'm fond of a drop myself
Whatever drink comes my way, it's down it goes
For fear that I might one day die of thirst!

And my darling asked me to give up the booze
Or I'd only be alive a short while more,
I told her straight out she was telling a lie
And that the drink extended my life's span.
Don't you see that bird with the smooth neck
That only a while ago perished with the thirst?
Ah, my pleasant people, wet your whistles
Because after death ye won't get a drop!

Background
One winters day the poet Cathal Bui MacGiolla Ghunna (1690-1756) discovered a 'buinnean bui' beside frozen pond. From this he draws a witty comparison between himself and the dead bird. Both were fond of drink and had a common colour - bui (yellow). He concludes by pretending that if he too gave up the drink he would surely die of thirst.