1. |
Lewis Bridal Song
02:19
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Step we gaily on we go, heel for heel and toe for toe
Arm in arm and row on row
All fo Marie's wedding
Red her cheeks as rowans are, bright her eyes as any star
Fairest of them all by far,
That's our darling Marie
Plenty fish and plenty meal, plenty peat to fill her kreel
Plenty bonnie bairns as weel
that's our toast to Marie
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2. |
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Sun arising red and bright
Brother rides a horse to the mountain high
I ride a dragon dark lover the sea
There my bride is awaiting me
-----------------
If you should go across the water
Take me with you to be your partner
At fair or market you'll be well looked after
And you shall sleep with the great king's daughter
Oh Donal Og, you'll not find me lazy
Not like some high-born expensive lady
I'll do your milking, I'll nurse your baby
And when you're set on I'll defend you bravely
Black as the sloe is the heart that's in me
Black as a coal is the grief that binds me
Black as a bootprint in a shining hallway
'Twas you that blackened it for aye and always
For you took what's before me and what's behind me
You took East and West when you wouldn't mind me
Sun, moon and stars from my sky have been taken
And God as well or I'm much mistaken
So if you should go across the water
Take me with you to be your partner
At fair or market you'll be well looked after
And you shall sleep with the great king's daughter
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3. |
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1. 'Twas in eighteen hundred and fifty-three
And of June the eighteenth day,
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed,
And for Greenland bore away, brave boys,
And for g\Greenland bore away.
2. The lookout in the crosstrees stood
With spyglass in his hand;
There's a whale, there's a whale, there's whalefish he cried
And she blows at every span, brave boys
She blows at every span.
3. The captain stood on the quarter deck,
And a fine old man was he;
"Overhaul, overhaul! Let your davit tackles fall,
And launch your boats for sea, brave boys
And launch your boats for sea.
4. Now the boats were launched and the men aboard,
And the whale was full in view.
Resolv-ed was each seaman bold
To steer where the whalefish blew, brave boys
To steer where the whalefish blew.
5. We struck that whale and the line played out,
But she gave such a flourish with her tail,
The boat capsized and four men were drowned,
And we never caught that whale, brave boys,
And we never caught that whale.
6. "To lose that whale," our captain cried,
It grieves my heart full sore,
But oh! to lose those four gallant men
It grieves me ten times more brave boys
It grieves me ten times more.
7. The winter star doth now appear,
So, boys we'll anchor weight;
It's time to leave this cold country
And homeward bear away, brave boys
And homeward bear away.
8. Oh Greenland is a dreadful place
A land that's never green
Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow
And the daylight's seldom seen brave boys
The daylight's seldom seen.
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4. |
\ - Ellian Vannen
04:24
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Snaefell, Taeside, Ben A Chree
Forty ships upon the sea
Each one bearing a Manx name
But there is one that will never again
Oh Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company
Oh Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea
It was one AM at Ramsey Bay
Captain Teare was heard to say
"Our contract says deliver the mail
In this rough weather we must not fail"
Oh Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company
Oh Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea
With a crew of twenty-one Manxmen
Her passengers Liverpool businessmen
Farewell, ye mariners, aye farewell
This little ship is doomed for hell
Oh Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company
Oh Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea
They were scarcely a mile from the lightship
When by a mighty wave Ellan Vannin was hit
She sank in the waters of Liverpool Bay
There she lies until this day
Oh Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company
Oh Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea
There's very few men who now remember
The third day of the month December
The terrible storm in Nineteen-nine
Ellan Vannin sailed for the very last time
Oh Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company
Oh Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea
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5. |
A Song for Stan Hugill
02:11
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SONG FOR STAN HUGILL © Fred Gosbee BMI (2:20)
Lay onto the line one more time, old man
Sing out and give us a working rhyme
Pull for the old man
These days the sails are just for show
But now before you have to go
Tell us how it was so long ago,old man
Pull for the old man pull
We won't see his like again
Pull for the old man pull
Pull for old Stan
Your eyes have seen the working sail, old man
In summer sun and winter gale
Pull for the old man
You've seen the sail replaced by oil
Gone the tops'l, course and royal
And the songs that helped you with your toil, old man
Pull for the old man pull
We won't see his like again
Pull for the old man pull
Pull for old Stan
Your mind is sharp, your eyes are clear, old man
And your arm's still strong after eighty years
Pull for the old man
With your tatooed arm and rolling gait
Your silver hair and your beard so grey
You're a bridge through time to yesterday, old man
Pull for the old man pull
We won't see his like again
Pull for the old man pull
Pull for old Stan
So have a drop of Nelson's blood, old man
Then tell us about that scouse and grog
Pull for the old man
Within your songs and books we find
The treasures you've had in your mind
We thank you, you've been very kind, old man
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6. |
Farewell To Tarwathie
04:25
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FAREWELL TO TARWATHIE
Farewell to Tarwathie,
Adieu, Mormond Hill,
And the dear land of Crimmond,
I bid ye farewell;
I'm bound out for Greenland
And ready to sail,
In hopes to find riches
In hunting the whale.
Adieu to my comrades,
For a while we must pairt,
And likewise the dear lass
Wha fair won my hairt;
The cold ice of Greenland
My love will not chill,
And the longer my absence,
More loving she'll feel.
Our ship is weel rigged
And she's ready to sail,
Our crew they are anxious
To follow the whale;
Where the icebergs do float
And the stormy winds blaw,
Where the land and the ocean
Are covered wi' snaw.
The cold coast of Greenland
Is barren and bare,
No seed-time or harvest
Is ever known there;
And the birds here sing sweetly
On mountain and dale,
But there isna a birdie
To sing to the whale.
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7. |
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Chorus:
Oh ha! soon shall I see them,
O, hee-roe, see them, oh see them.
O, roe, soon shall I see them,
The mist covered mountains of home!
There shall I visit the place of my birth
And they'll give me a wlcome the warmest on earth
All so loving and kind full of music and mirth,
In the sweet-sounding language of home.
Chorus
There shall I gaze on the mountains again,
On the fields and the woods and the burns and the glens,
And away 'mong the corries beyond human ken
In the haunts of the deer I shall roam
Chorus
Hail to the mountains with summits of blue
To the glens with their meadows of sunshine and dew
To the women and men ever constant and true
Ever ready to welcome one home
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8. |
The Cuillin of Rhum
03:08
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Far away seaward my queenland, my youthland
Far away seaward the cuillins of home
And here in my dream time I'm hearing hill water
The laughter of streams by the cuillins of Rhum
Soon shall I see thy bright shores in the sunlight
The heather of hills and the rising of morn
The rolling grey sea wind goes east in the morning
To run the wild hills of the cuillins of Rhum
Far away seaward thy green hills are lovelit
Where runs the hill water down to the sea
Like tangle at noontime, like snow wreath in moonlight
As thou who art yearning will yearn it to be
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9. |
Rolling Down to Old Maui
03:24
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It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife
We whale men undergo.
And we don't give a damn when the whaleing's done
How hard the winds did blow.
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground
With a good ship, taut and free
And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum
With the girls of Old Maui.
(chorus)
Rolling down to Old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to Old Maui
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to Old Maui.
Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Towards our island home.
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam.
Six hellish months have passed away
On the cold Kamchatka Sea,
But we're homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to Old Maui.
chorus
Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Through the ice and wind and rain.
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands
We soon shall see again.
Our stu'n's'l bones/booms is carried away
What care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us,
Thank God we're homeward bound.
chorus
How soft the breeze through the island trees,
Now the ice is far astern.
Them native maids, them tropical glades
Is a-waiting our return.
Even now their big brown eyes look out
Hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails runnin' 'fore the gales
Rolling down to old Maui.
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10. |
The Maid on the Shore
03:09
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There was a fair maiden who lived on the shore
Her beauty shone brightly and clear-o
And all she could find for to ease her sad mind
Was to wander alone on the shore, oh shore
Wander alone on the shore (2x)
And there was a bold captain, who plowed the salt seas
He plowed the salt seas all around-o
This beautiful maiden he chanced for to spy
"Don't I wish that I had her on board, on board
Don't I wish that I had her on board." (2x)
The first mate he ran and he lowered the boat
And quickly he rode it to shore-o
To the beautiful maiden he slyly did say:
"Fair maid, won't you venture on board on board? (2x)
With coaxing, persuading, she entered the boat
And quickly he rowed her on board-o
Our captain, he smiled and spat out his chew
Saying "Fair you well sorrow and care, oh care." (2x)
The captain he poured out the red cherry wine
That sparked so bright and so clear-o
Saying "First you will lie in my arms all this night,
And then I'll hand you to my crew my crew" (2x)
"Oh thank you, oh thank you," the maiden replied
"That's just what I've been waiting for-o.
For I've grown so weary of my maidenhead
As I wandered alone on the shore ."
She sat herself down in the stern of the ship
Her voice was so fair and so clear-o
She sang them so sweet, so neat and complete
She sang captain and sailors to sleep."
She robbed them of silver, she robbed them of gold
She robbed them of costly a-wear-o
The captain's bright sword, she used for an oar
For to row herself back to the shore.
And yonder she stands all alone on the strand
A-waving her handkerchief, fair o
Saying: "You are the captain that sails the salt seas
And I'm still a maid on the shore, the shore,
And I'm still the maid on the shore."
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11. |
The Great Selchie
05:51
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An earthly nourris sits and spins
And aye she sings, "Ba lilly wean
Little ken I, my bairns daddie
Far less the land that he sleeps in."
Then he arose at her bed feet
And a grumbly guest I'm sure was he
Saying "Here am I, thy bairns daddie
Although I be not comely."
I am a man upon the land
I am a silkie in the sea
And when I'm far and far from land
My home it is in Sule Skerry."
Then he has taken a purse of gold
And he has laid it on her knee
Saying, "give to me, my little young son
And take thee up thy nouriss fee
I shall come on a summer's day
When the sun shines bright on every stone
I'll come and take my little young son
And teach him how to swim the foam
And thou shalt marry a gunner bold
And a very fine gunner I'm sure he'll be
And the very first shot that e're he shoots
Will kill both my young son and me."
Alas, alas, this woeful fate
This weary fate that's laid on me
Then once or twice she sobbed and sighed
Then she joined her son and the great selchie
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12. |
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Chorus:
Ilya ho boys, let her go boys
Turn her head round now all together
Ilya ho boys, let her go boys
Sailing homeward to Mingulay
What care we how white the Minch is
What care we for wind and weather?
When we know that every inch is
Wearing homeward to Mingulay
Wives are waiting on the bank
Or looking seaward from the heather
Turn her round boys and we'll anchor
'ere the sun sets in Mingulay
--------------------------
Westering home and a song in the air
Light in the eye and it's goodbye to care
Laughter or love and a welcoming there
Land of my heart my own one
Tell me a tale of the Orient gay
Speak of the riches and joys of Cathay
Aye but it's grand to be waking each day
To find myself closer to Islay
Where are there folk like the folk of the West?
Couthy and canty and kindly the best
There I will hie and there I will rest
There with my ain folk in Islay!
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