I'm trying to find the origin of a song in Irish which appears to be based upon one of the psalms... but which one? Here's the Irish version:
Chorus:
Mo ghrá Thú, a Thiarna
Mo neart Thú
Mo ghrá Thú, a Thiarna
Mo Dhia Thú mo charraig is mo dhídean
Mo sciath, adharc mo shlánaithe, mo dhún
Glaoim ar an Tiarna dar dIeacht moladh
Agus déarta mo shaoradh ó mo naimhde
(Chorus)
Go maire an Tiarna, is é mo charraig É
Go raibh Dia mo Shlánaitheoir á mhóradh
Thug sé caithréim an dá Rí
Agus nocht sé a ghrá dá ungthach
(Chorus)
I've found a translation of this on the net - It reads like this:
You are my love, O Lord
You are my strength,
You are my love, O Lord
My God, you are my rock and my refuge,
My shield, my horn of healing, my fortress,
I call on the Lord with praise,
And am freed from my enemies.
May my Lord live, who is my rock,
May God exalt my savior,
He has triumphed over the two kings
And revealed his love to the anointed.
Now this is where the problem arises - which psalm does this derive from (if any)? Most sources I can find suggest Psalm 17, but if you take a look at that you'll see little to connect one directly to the other... Others have suggested Psalm 117 (again, no obvious connection), while others have suggested that
Mo ghrá Thú, a Thiarna is an Irish version of
The Hiding Place (others say that it just has the same tune). Any ideas?
Is it possible that
Mo ghrá Thú, a Thiarna is based partly on Psalm 71 and partly on Psalm 72, since the former contains a reference to 'my rock, my fortress' and the latter refers to two kings...
Here is a useful link to find the various Psalms online
http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=23
Any comments or ideas would be appreciated...:D
