Irish Language/Words and Music/Peata Beag

Peata Beag

Listen to This Song: Dervish (on Spotify)

About the Song

Peata Beag (Little Pet) is a traditional song collected by Dublin artist and antiquary George Petrie. According to Petrie:

“ The following playful melody, with its words, was obtained in the course of the summer of 1853 from the blind county of Clare peasant, Teige MacMahon[.] The words, though of no high poetic merit, are not without interest, from their natural simplicity, and as an illustration of the thoughts of Irish peasant life. ”

The dialect would originally have been Clare Irish, closest to Munster of the surviving modern dialects.

Petrie gives two verses (verses 1 and 3 below). The second verse appears in P. W. Joyce's "Irish Music and Song" (1901). The last verse appears in the most popular recording, by Dervish, and most other modern recordings. It was not recorded in either Petrie or Joyce and Dervish credits the song as "traditional".

The title given in early English sources is usually Petrie's "I wish the shepherd's pet were mine." Other translations include "I wish I had the shepherd's lamb." Modern editions and recordings call it "Peata Beag".

Lyrics

Verse 1

vocabulary
trua	pity (n. f.) lean (of meat) (adj.)
gan	without
peata	pet (n. m.)
maor	warden; supervisor (n. m.)
caora	sheep (n. f.)
beag	small (adj.)
bán	white (adj. & n. m.)

Is trua gan peata an mhaoir agam
Is trua gan peata an mhaoir agam
Is trua gan peata an mhaoir agam
Is na caoire beaga bána

notes

• The basic structure here and in each of the later verses is the same: "Is trua" (it is a pity that) "gan ... agam" (I have no ...).
• In the first three lines, "an" is contracted or elided to "'n" and attached to the last syllable of "peata"; in performance it sounds more like "peat-an"
• The beginning of the last line ("Is na") is contracted or elided to sound like "'Sna" in performance.
• "Caoire" is a Munster dialect variant of "caoirigh", sheep (plural).
• "Peata" is usually translated "pet," but may also mean "lamb."

Chorus

vocabulary
gair	call, acclaim (v.)
grá	love, beloved (n. m.)
croí	heart (n. m.)
cealg	guile (n. f.)
máthair	mother (n. f.)

Is ó gairim, gairim thú,
Is grá mo chróí gan cheilg thú,
Is ó gairim, gairim thú,
Is tú peata beag do mháthar

notes

• Here and in verses 2, 3, and 4, the first three lines start with "is", the copula; the last line also starts with "is," but the shortened form of "agus", meaning "and".

Verse 2

vocabulary
-ín	diminutive suffix
maol	bald (adj.)
maoilín	hornless cow (n. m.)
maoin	gift, property (n.)
maoinín	little treasure (n.)
bán	white (adj.)
fáilte	welcome (n.)
geal	bright; white (n./adj.)

Is trua gan maoilín bán agam
Is trua gan maoilín bán agam
Is trua gan maoilín bán agam
Is fáilte ó mo ghrá geal

notes

• The fourth word in this verse is sometimes given as "maoilín" and sometimes "maoinín":
  • "Maoilín" is derived from "maol", meaning bald or a bald or bare object. With the addition of the diminutive "-ín" it literally means something like "the little bald-topped one" and refers to a calf or hornless cow.
  • "Maoinín" is a diminutive of "maoin," meaning gift or property, and means "little treasure."
• "Grá geal" (literally "bright love") is a common term of endearment.

Verse 3

vocabulary
bólacht	cattle (n.)
bainne	milk (n.)
Cáit	Kate (given name)
cat	cat (n.)
máthair	mother (n.)

Is trua gan bólacht bainne agam
Is trua gan bólacht bainne agam
Is trua gan bólacht bainne agam
Is Cáitín ó a máthair

notes

• "Bólacht bainne" refers to a cow in milk.
• Different sources render the last line as either Cáitín or caitín:
  • "Cáitín," a diminutive version of the given name Cáit, meaning something like "Little Kate".
  • or "caitín," the diminutive form of "cat" (meaning cat) and meaning something like "kitty" or "catkin".
• The original version has "ó na máthair"; the n- in "na" is likely a dialect-specific prothesis.

Verse 4

vocabulary
gabhar	goat (n.)
buí	yellow (adj.)
stór	wealth, treasure; storehouse (n.)

Is trua gan gabhairín bhuí agam
Is trua gan gabhairín bhuí agam
Is trua gan gabhairín bhuí agam
Is thabharfainn do mo stór í

notes

• "Gabhairín" is another diminutive, this time for "little goat".
• "Thabharfainn" is the first person singular of "tabhair", give, in the modh coinníollach, conditional mood, meaning "I would give".
• "Stór" literally refers to abundance or riches, but here is used figuratively to mean "darling" or "beloved".