Nuair a ruigeas tu an tràigh ann
   Bidh ghaineamh bhàn ri oir na tìr';
Chì thu làrach mo dhà shàil ann
   Mur do dh'fhàilig iad ri tìm.

Nuair a bha mi òg 'nam shealgair
   Bu tric mi falbh air feadh nam bàgh;
S pailt mo lorg air feadh nan garbhlach
   Far an dèan na calmain tàmh.

Ma bhuaileas tu aig Lag an t-Sàile
   Gum bi sàmhchair ort mun cuairt;
Sann an sìochaint sìth Chnoc Hàllainn
   Tha mo chàirdean-sa 'nan suain.

Tha mo chàirdean 's mo luchd-eòlais
   Fo na fòidean ann a' cnàmh;
Sann 'nam measg bu mhiann mo chòmhnaidh
   Nuair nì mi còmhdhail ris a' bhàs.

An t-eilean grianach rinn mi fhàgail,
   Thoir mìle fàilte dha le spéis;
Is ann a dh'iarrainn a bhith tàmhachd
   Seach aon àite tha fon a' ghréin.

Ged a thug mi ris mo chùlaibh
   Bidh mo dhùrachd ann gu bràch,
'S bidh mo bheannachdan ga ionnsaigh
   Air an dùblachadh le bàidh.

Chi thu Éiseabhal nan stùcan
   Le cuid chùiltean agus chàrn;
S tric a dealbh a' tighinn 'nam inntinn
   Bhon a dh'imrich mi thar sàl.

Chì thu 'n tìr a dh'àraich òg mi
   Sgèimhichte le cleòc as àill -
Seagal, coirce agus eòrna
   'S gucag bhòidheach a' bhuntàt'.

S iomadh smuain a bhios gam dhealgadh
   'S mi fad air falbh bho eilean m' òig',
Fad bho eilean gorm mo dhùthchais
   Far an lùiginn a bhith beò.

Thoir mo shoraidh do gach nàbaidh
   Rinn mi fhàgail as mo dhéidh -
Gheibh iad ann an cop an t-sàile
   Aithris bhlàth bhon dùthaich chéin

Conversation between an Emigrant and a Wave

If you reach the Isle of Uist
   On your journey through the sea,
You will hit the shore of my boyhood
   Which I knew so well at one time.

When you reach the sea shore
   The white sand will be on the edge of the land;
You will find there my footprints
   Unless they have failed through time.

When I was a young hunter
   I used to wander around the bays;
My footsteps can be traced
   Where the dove makes his abode.

If you hit the Cavity of the Salt Water
   There will be silence all around;
In the tranquillity of Hallan cemetery
   My relations sleep sound.

My friends and relations
   Are decaying under the turf;
My desire is to be among them
   When my eyes close in death.

The sunny island which I left,
   Give it my welcome and love;
Of all the places under the sun
   There's where I would like to stay.

Although I left it behind me
   My goodwill is always there;
My blessings will always reach towards it
   And they are doubled with love.

You will see Eiseabhal of the glens
   With its hollows and dales;
Its image is always on my mind
   Since I moved across the sea.

You will see the land which reared me when young,
   Its green crop growing to harvest -
Rye, oats and barley
   And the lovely bud on the potatoes.

Many a thought passes through my mind
   Far away from the land of my youth,
Far from the land of my birth
   Where I always desire to be.

Take my blessings to my neighbours
   Whom I have left behind -
They will receive in the foam of the ocean
   A warm remembrance from the foreign land.

(author's translation)