Or, more fully "Fúbún fúibh, a shluagh Gaoidheal (Fooboon upon you, ye hosts of the
Gael)"
"Fúbún" cannot be directly translated into english, so a more
phonetic spelling is used in the translation. The word itself carries
connotations of "
Shame on you", only harsher.
A brutal
reproach of the entire
Irish ruling class, this
poem illustrates the unheard of level of freedom granted to the
bards of
Ireland. While the
author of this piece is not known, the
gaelic text hints that he was sworn to the
O'Carroll clan.
The subject of this particular bard's
wrath was the decision of the Irish
nobility to acknowledge
England's
Henry VIII as
King of Ireland. At the time this seemed little more than
ceremonial, as the
nobles responsible retained control over their holdings. The author saw things differently, seeing it as the first step towards the end of a distinctly Irish
nation.
This
translation from the original
Gaelic was done in
1901 by
Douglas Hyde in
A Literary History of Ireland. Hyde was a founding member of the
Gaelic League, and it can be inferred that his
departures from the
literal gaelic translation were as much to
inspire patriotism in the readers of his day as they were to maintain a
poetic flow.
Fooboon upon you, ye hosts of the
Gael,
For your own
Innisfail has been taken,
And the
Gall is dividing the
emerald lands1
By your
treacherous bands
forsaken.
Clan Carthy of
Munster from first unto last
Have forsaken the past of their
sires,
And they
honour no longer the men that are gone,
Or the song of the God-sent
lyres.
The
O'Briens of
Banba whom
Murrough led on,
They are gone with the
Saxon aggressor,
2
They have
bartered their
heirloom of
ages away
And forgotten to
slay the
oppressor.
The old race of
Brian mac Yohy the stern
With
gallowglass,
kern, and
bonnacht
They are down on their knees, they are cringing today
'Tis the way through the
province of
Connacht.
In the valleys of
Leinster the
valorous band
Who lightened the land with their
daring,
In
Erin's dark hour now shift for themselves,
The
wolves are upon them and tearing.
And
O'Neill, who is throned in
Emania afar
And gave
kings unto
Tara for ages,
For the
earldom of
Ulster has bartered, through
fear,
The
kingdom of
heroes and
sages.
Alas for the sight! the
O'Carrolls of
Birr
Swear
homage in
terror, sore fearing,
3
Not a man one may know for a man can be found
On the
emerald ground of
Erin.
And
O'Donnell the
chieftain, the
lion in fight,
Who defended the right of
Tirconnell,
(Ah! now may green
Erin indeed go and droop!)
He stoops with them—
Manus O'Donnell!
Fooboon for the
court where no
English was spoke,
Fooboon for the
court of the
stranger,
Fooboon for the
gun in the
foreigner's
train,
Fooboon for the
chain of
danger.
Ye faltering
madmen, God
pity your case!
In the
flame of
disgrace ye are singeing.
Fooboon is the word of the
bard and the
saint,
Fooboon for the
faint and the cringing.
1 "Gall" is the
Gaelic term for
Britons in
Ireland, and a
derogatory one at that.
2 In this case "
Saxon" is used to refer to the
English in general, and not specifically to the group historically known as such.
3 This is the line in the original Gaelic that alludes to the author being court bard for the O'Carrolls