Islands In Time - Castlebay In Concert 2006

Mackeral Jig 2:06
© Nikos Apollonio

Mingulay Boat Song / Westering Home 4:53

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!

Island In Time 4:45
©1996 Nikos Apollonio

Wind on the water come blow  me Downeast again
Back to my islands in time
Wings on my friendship will carry me home again
Back to my islands in time

Dark spruce and granite stand watch on the turning tide
Foghorn and beacon and bell be my guide
Mussel Ridge and Isle au Haut, Vinalhaven, Jericho
There lie my islands in time

Far on my dreamtide I hear them calling  me
Back to my islands in time
Southwind in springtime will carry me east again
Back to my islands in time

Dark spruce and granite etc.

The Independant Republic of Muscongus 2:41
Story

Muscongus Hornpipe 1:54
© Fred Gosbee

The Old Liars 5:35
©1993 Julia Lane

Oh what has become of the old liars all
Julian and Manley and Frankie and Paul ?
Down at the co-op when fish weren't so few
They'd lie through their teeth and they'd swear it was true

On warm afternoons in the summer we'd go
With handline and bucket to the harbor below
To the dock with the rope and the chains and the spars
Where the weathered old planks smelled of bait and of tar
The fish house was piled high with old fishing gear
With a sign that said something 'bout "All the bull here"
In a big leather armchair a white-haired old man
Would give us a soda and a handful of clams
 
Sometimes there were others who sat in the shack
A-telling their stories of fishing 'way back
When the weather was better or worse than right now
They always would say it was bigger somehow
They'd tell of the days when they hauled traps by hand 
Out in their dories away from the land
In the winter they'd row till their hands would turn blue
And some of the stories you knew could be true
 
But then they'd continue with never a smile
And tell of the day when they rowed fifty miles
Blinded by fogbanks and capsized by storms
And rescued by mermaids with gold on their arms
Then there was the one 'bout the fisherman's ghost
Doomed to eternity because of a boast
His coming would warn all the sailors of gales
The wilder the weather, the stranger their tales
 
Then we'd run down the gangplank and bait up our lines
And drop the weight down where the flounder are fine
 And wait for the tug that sometimes never came
Then we'd go up and bother the old men again
And now that they're gone I feel empty inside
Though people will tell me their jaw was all lies
Their tales were as true as the tide and the breeze
My children will never hear stories like these

The Night Charlie Tended Weir 7:11
© 1953 Ruth Moore Used by Permission

Uncle Neil's Adventure
Story

Cappy John's Bride 4:47
© 1996 Fred Gosbee

Now a skipper that we know who was famous long ago
Was looking for a ship as his was run aground
Though it was sometimes stated 'twas the way he navigated
Ol' Cappy John was rated as  the finest man around

Now there was a ship nearby that he wanted for to try
It belonged to Ned McKenzie and was called the Mary Beale
But old John was shy of girls and the place was full of curls
And he didn't have the nerve to go up and make his deal

Chorus

She carries her bow high and her stern is nice and round
It's easy to hold her when she's sheeted down
She is my heart's desire and all that I require 
Is that you let me try her when I come to town

Now the mate, whose name was Dan, 
Up and says to the old man
"I can sound McKenzie out and then clear away the girls
I will see that it's alright if you want to go tonight
For that ship she is a sight, she's the best in all the world"
 
So Dan goes to McKenzie but somehow in all the frenzy
There was some misunderstanding 
And he got the message wrong
Or perhaps the silly goomer had a twisted sense of humor
But when Cappy came to view her he was singing this song 

Chorus

McKenzie shook his hand and he says "I understand
that you want to take my Mary away from me
Now before with you I send her I must tell you she is tender
Which I'll thank you to remember when you take her out to sea"
 
So John says "Dan must have told that I want to fill her hold;
With a belly full of cargo I know she'll handle fine
I promise not to break her and if ever I forsake her , 
Then I know the mate will take her for he's a friend of mine"
 
Chorus

Says McKenzie "Are you mad? for you talk just like a cad
To throw my Mary over like some trollop in Rangoon
She isn't just some fun thing (though I might permit some bundling)
But I will tell you  one thing, you must make your offer soon"

Says John "I can't commit , until one thing you  permit        
You must let me  roll her over on the sand beside the bay
I will have my men inspect her and still I may reject her
If  her bottom is neglected or has started to decay"
 
Chorus
 
Says McKenzie "I can't stand it ; you are worse than any bandit
Since the two of you have planned it 
'tis yourselves that should begin"
He called Mary from the kitchen :Cappy John he started twitchin'
But the girl she was bewitchin' and she smiled as she came in

Now the mate, he oiled the water, 
And the skipper got the daughter
He's as happy as an otter with his dear and blushing bride
Though it seemed a bright invention 
He'd the good sense not to mention  
That it wasn't his intention, 
AND HE GOT THE SHIP BESIDES!

The Phantom Ship 4:12
©1995 Julia Lane

When you went down to the shore last night what did you see?
Did you see a lofty ship sailing fast and free?
Sail away, sail away, sailing fast and free
Sail away, sail away, across the moonlit sea

When I went down to the shore last night a ship I saw
And the moon was like a shining sail there in the rigging tall
Shine away, shine away, there in the rigging tall
Shine away, shine away, a light to guide them all

And there upon that moonlit ship did you see a man
Who stood so tall upon the deck with sailors at command
Standing tall, standing tall, with sailors at command
Standing tall, standing tall so strong of voice and hand

Alas I saw no captain brave standing tall and true
Indeed I saw not a soul on board, neither captain or crew
Not a soul, not a soul did man the ship as she flew
Not a soul, not a soul, and the wind in the rigging blew

The Water Kelpie / The Mermaid
Traditional

Three Fishers Words by Charles Kingsley / Music by Stan & Garnet Rogers

Three fishers went sailing out into the west
Into the west as the sun went down
Each thought on the woman who loved him the best
And the children stood watching them out of the town
For men must work and women must weep
For there's little to earn and there's many to keep
Though the harbor bar be moaning
Though the harbor bar be moaning


Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower 
And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down
They looked at the squall and they looked at the shower
And the night wrack came rolling up ragged and brown
For men must work and women must weep
Though the storms be sudden and the waters be deep
And the harbor bar be moaning
And the harbor bar be moaning

Three corpses lay out on the shining sand
In the morning gleam as the tide went down
And the women are weeping and wringing their hands
For those who will never come home to the town
For men must work and women must weep
And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep
And goodbye to the bar and it's moaning
And goodbye to the bar and it's moaning

For men must work and women must weep
For there's little to earn and there's many to keep
Though the harbor bar be moaning
Though the harbor bar be moaning

Fisherman's Prayer 4:34
© 1991 Frank Gotwals

We learned this song from Frank before he was done with it and our version differs quite a bit from Frank's "official" version. We like it anyway.

Bless this boat
And those  who take her out upon the northern seas
Always carry them to plenty
And bring them safely home again

Homeward Bound, Homeward Bound

Once you were
A dream that led a young heart to the waiting sea
Generations ask in silence
Bring them safely home again

Homeward Bound, Homeward Bound

Brave the gales of late November
Find a path through summer fog
Weather all the storms of winter
April brings new hope

Bless this boat
And those  who take her out to work the northern deep
Take them to good life and living
And bring them safely home again

Homeward Bound, Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound, Homeward Bound

The Lighthouse on the Shore 3:34
© 2004 Julia Lane

I see a beacon on the rocks above the swirling foam
A shining light that through the night is welcoming us home
And in the morning  standing proudly in the rising sun
It signals to all  wanderers their new day has begun 

Chorus:
The Lighthouse on the Shore, wherever we may roam
The Lighthouse on the Shore will guide the traveler home


When sailing vessels plowed the seas for fortune and for fame
All sailors feared the dangers on the rocky coast of Maine
They prayed for mercy from the wild and restless wind and wave
And for a guiding light to keep them from a watery grave

Our fathers built the lighthouse for the benefit of all
For ships of every nation, for  vessels great and small
Just as it lifts the spirits of the mariner homeward bound
We too can find direction when there's darkness all around

I's the B'y 2:58
Traditional Newfoundland

I's the b'y that builds the boat,
and I's the b'y that sails her,
I's the b'y that catches the fish,
And takes 'em home to Liza.
Hip your partner, Sally Tibble,
Hip your partner, Sally Brown,
Fogo, Twillingate, Morton's Harbour,
All around the circle

I took Liza to a dance,
And faith, but she could travel!
And every step that she did take
Was up to her knees in gravel!

Susan White, she's out of sight,
Her petticoat needs a border,
Old Sir Oliver in the dark
He kissed her in the corner!

Sods and rinds to cover your flake,
Tay and cake for supper,
Codfish in the spring of the year,
Fried in maggoty butter!

Run Before the Wind
© 1996 Julia Lane

May there always be safe haven from the storm
May the sun glow softly on your skin
May the stars shine bright, may the dawn come clear
May you always run before the wind

May you always find a kind and listening ear
May the stranger think of you as kin/Users/FDG/Desktop/7-23-10Poster.pdf
May the stars shine bright, may the dawn come clear
May you always run before the wind

And if the world turns you upside down
Remember, it keeps turning 'round

May the tears you shed be only those of joy
May you always be glad of where you've been
May the stars shine bright, may the dawn come clear
May you always run before the wind