Little by Little Beag air Bheag
’S i Mòrag - the second verse
How are you getting on? The second verse is coming up, let’s look at the vocabulary:
housewife, good-wife
master of the house, man of the house
my grandmother
grandfather
milkmaid
cowherd
servant
skivvy
The first two lines start pairing up the couples who were at the dance:
Bha fear an taigh aig bean an taigh,
'S an sgalag aig an t-searbhant'
The man of the house danced with the good-wife,
The skivvy with the servant
The second two lines continue that theme of pairing off the couples:
Bha 'm buachaill' aig a' bhanaraich,
'S mo sheanair aig mo sheanmhair
The cowherd danced with the milkmaid,
My grandfather and grandmother danced together
Now we’re comfortable, let’s put the four lines together:
Bha fear an taigh aig bean an taigh,
'S an sgalag aig an t-searbhant',
Bha ‘m buachaill' aig a' bhanaraich,
'S mo sheanair aig mo sheanmhair
The man of the house danced with the good-wife,
The skivvy with the servant,
The cowherd danced with the milkmaid,
My grandfather and grandmother danced together