Dónal Ó Maoláine, aka Eamon Mhagaine,
Irish poet and
rapparee, fl. 18th century.
Ó Maoláine, a native of
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
, is described by O'Rourke as a "shadowy figure" who figures in a
chanson d'aventure The chanson d'aventure (, en, song of adventure) is a genre of medieval poetry originating in France, but which had a substantial influence on poetry in Middle English.
Structure
The ''chanson d'aventure'' (plural ''chansons d'aventure'') is essen ...
where he is given a letter by the father of a woman who offers to marry him. He refuses, "saying he is bethrothed to another man's daughter, and leaves her lamenting she ever knew him." Subsequent verses reveal that he met her a year ago and that she bore his child. In one version, he is "taken to be a
rapparee or an
outlaw
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
; the theory is supported by a verse (collected in Mayo) which mention's the Queen's pardon" (perhaps indicating the reign of
Queen Anne, 1702–14).
A concluding verse, when translated, is as follows:
Go and marry her then, 'tis little I care about it
Ireland is not empty and I'll get another man
I know a man who wouldn't ask a dowry of a penny with me
but would take me in my smock, although I'm no pauper.
References
* "County Mayo in Gaelic Folksong",
Brian O'Rourke, pp. 180–81, ''Mayo: Aspects of its Heritage'', ed. Bernard O'Hara, 1982.
{{DEFAULTSORT:O Maolaine, Donal
Irish highwaymen
Irish folklore
18th-century Irish-language poets
Writers from County Mayo