Mist Covered Mountains
Background
The Mist-Covered Mountains of Home (Chì mi na Mòrbheanna) is a Scottish Gaelic song, written in 1856 by John Cameron, a Highlander. It is a song filled with longing for home. Its wistful, calming melody, set to the rhythm of a traditional ballad, is also often used as a lullaby.
In the lyrics, it isn’t just about “a journey,” but above all about a longing for home: the singer imagines (and hears/associates) the mountains, valleys, forests, and meadows along the way, along with deer and the “mantles of mist” (mist mantles) that drape the landscape. In the end, he is welcomed in the valley by the people, in the language he understands, an image of coming home, and of the longing that lies behind it.
Lyrics
Gaelic lyrics
Sèist:
O, chì, chì mi na mòrbheanna;
O, chì, chì mi na còrrbheanna;
O, chì, chì mi na coireachan,
Chì mi na sgorran fo cheò.
Chì mi gun dàil an t-àite 'san d' rugadh mi;
Cuirear orm fàilte 'sa chànan a thuigeas mi;
Gheibh mi ann aoidh agus gràdh nuair ruigeam,
Nach reicinn air thunnachan òir.
Sèist
Chì mi ann coilltean; chì mi ann doireachan;
Chì mi ann maghan bàna is torraiche;
Chì mi na fèidh air làr nan coireachan,
Falaicht' an trusgan de cheò.
Sèist
Beanntaichean àrda is àillidh leacainnean;
Sluagh ann an còmhnaidh is còire chleachdainnean;
'S aotrom mo cheum a' leum 'gam faicinn;
Is fanaidh mi tacan le deòin.
Sèist
English lyrics
Chorus:
O, I see, I see the big mountains;
O, I see, I see the steep mountains;
O, I see, I do see the corries,
I see the mist-covered peaks.
I see without delay the land of my birth;
I am welcomed in the language I understand.
I will receive there hospitality, and love when I reach it
That I'd trade not for tons of gold.
Chorus
I see there woods, and I see there thickets,
I see there the fair and most fertile of meadows;
I see there the deer on the ground in the corries
Hiding in mantles of mist.
Chorus
Lofty mountains and resplendent ledges,
There dwell my own folk, kind folk of honour.
Light is my step as I leap up to meet them;
'Tis with pleasure I'll stay there a while.
Chorus