Although it is now officially an illegal activity, cockfighting was a fixture of Chamorro culture up until it was banned in the U.S. territories just a few years ago. I’ve never been to a cockfight, but it was part of Jay’s childhood growing up on Guam in the nineties. In this song we get to hear about cockfighting in Chamorro culture, including some name drops of favored rooster breeds for the fighting pit. In this post we have Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song Gayera by Daniel De Leon Guerrero. Happy listening!

Ha kombida yu’ este kompaire-ku1 un puengi pa gayera	My Par1 invited me one night to go the cockfight
Ilek-hu na tåya’ na hu chagi enao na huegu	I said, “I’ve never tried that kind of game before”
Ilek-ña maolek ha’ sustånsia-ña	He said, “It’s got something to it”
Pues annai humånao ham guihi na puengi	Then when we went that evening
Bula esta manggaigi	There were already a lot of people
Ai bula manmanggågånna’	Oh a lot of them were winning
Bula manmapépeddi	Many were losing

Pues matå’chong yu’ gi un bånda yan i gå-hu gåyu	So I sat on one side with my pet rooster
Ai hu nanangga bai mafaisen maseha un kontråriu	Oh I am waiting to be asked by whoever for an opponent
Pues kahulo’ este un Tagålu	Then a Filipino man got up
Ilek-ña, “Paire you wanna try my Claret?”2	He said, “Par, you wanna go against my Claret?”2
Ilek-hu, “Ga’chong-hu side short3 ga’-hu!”	I said, “My buddy, my animal is the underdog!”3
Ilek-hu, “Låtga4 sa’ Marans!”5	I said, “I’ll take the bet4 because it’s a Marans!”5

Ilek-hu, “Twenty, thirty, forty or fifty	I said, “Twenty, thirty, forty or fifty”
Håyi malago’ ma aposta na puengi	Who wants to bet tonight?
Maila’ ya un chagi este ga’-hu gåyu	Come and we will try this rooster
Låtga ta na’mumu	I’ll take the bet and we will make them fight!

Pues annai in gegedde nabåha ai guihi na ora	Then when we tied the razors oh that hour
Ai duru i mangga’chong-hu gi un bånda manaposta	Oh my friends were on one side, betting like crazy
Pues annai in sikat6 i dos gåyu guihi na ora	Then when we prepared the two roosters to fight that hour
Annai poddong ga’-ña i Tagålu	When the Filipino man’s animal fell down
Ilek-hu, “Mamboka hit kåddon pika”	I said, “We are going to eat spicy soup!”

Ilek-hu, “Twenty, thirty, forty or fifty	I said, “Twenty, thirty, forty or fifty”
An malago’ hao na puengi mapeddi	If you want, on this evening, to lose
Maila’ ya ta chagi esti ga’-hu gåyu	Come and we will try this, my pet rooster
Låtga ta na’mumu!	I’ll take the bet and we will make them fight!

Pues annai monhåyan dos gåyu guihi na puengi mumu	Then when the two roosters were done fighting that evening
Ai duru di gonggong gi un bånda ai i Tagålu	Oh the Filipino man kept grumbling under his breath on one side
Pues duru i mangga’chong-hu ai di ma chatgi	Then my friends, oh, they kept laughing at him
Ai ha bira gue ya ilek-ña nu guahu, “Ti apmam yu’ tåtte”	Oh, he turned and said to me, “I will be right back”

Pues manangga yu’ ai guihi na puengi dos oras på’go	Then I waited, oh that night for two hours already
Ai duru ham yan mangga’chong ai manaposta na tiempu	Oh me and the buddies kept on betting that time
Pues annai måtto ai tåtte ha hongang yu’ ai på’go	Then when he got back, he surprised me, oh, now
Annai hu li’e’ ga’ña si Telur Dom7, ai dolle’ ha’ i ga’-hu	When I saw his pet (rooster) Telur Dom7, oh my pet (rooster) was overwhelmed by fear

Ilek-hu, “Benti, trenta, kuarenta singkuenta	I said, “Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty
Håyi malago’ na puengi manaposta	Who wants to bet tonight?
Maila ya un chagi esti ga’-hu gåyu	Come and you will try my rooster
Låtga ta na’mumu!	I’ll take the bet and we will make them fight!

Låtga, låtga, låtga	I’ll take the bet, I’ll take the bet, I’ll take the bet
Ya ta na’mumu!	And we will make them fight!
Låtga!	Send it!4

Notes

¹ Kompaire / Paire / Par / Pari: The word kompaire or kompairi is the long-form version of the more commonly used words Par or Pari. Your Pari is either the godfather of your child, or the father of your godchild.

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² Claret: This is a breed of rooster often used in cockfighting. It gets its name from its wine-red coloring.

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³ Side Short: In cockfighting, this refers to placing a bet on the “underdog” or the rooster that is less favored to win. You are literally betting on the “short” side of the odds.

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⁴ Låtga: A few Chamorro dictionaries define this word as “greedy, extravagant, profuse, spendthrift, insatiable.” But when we were asking Jay’s family about this word in the context of a cockfight, they said it’s what you call out at the start of a match to say you’ll take the bet. Out of the context of a cockfight, Jay’s stepdad uses this word in a similar way to how we might say “Send it!” in English, which is urging someone to do something, in the sense of “Just do it!” without over-thinking or even heeding the consequences.

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⁵ Marans: This is another breed of rooster often used in cockfighting. Its name comes from the port town of Marans in France, where it originated.

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⁶ Sikåt: This is a term that means “to prepare cocks to fight in the arena.” It’s like a practice fight before the actual match to see if two roosters will fight each other. In this process, the roosters are held and allowed to peck at each other. Then they are placed on the ground and held by the tail feathers while they begin to scratch, raise the neck feathers and bob their heads up and down.

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⁷ Telur Dom: A type of rooster used for cockfighting, which is a hybrid breed of a Dom and a Telur.

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