The Long Isle 1989

Castlebay is (in 1989)—

Brian Chadbourne - vocals, autoharp
Fred Gosbee - vocals, 6 & 12 string guitars, classical guitar, pennywhistle, 5-string viola (not banjo) , alto recorder, bowed psaltry, tampourine
Julia Lane - vocals, classic guitar, Celtic harp, piano, pennywhistle
Mark McNeil - vocals, 6 & 12 string guitars, bass, violin, cello, flute, synthesizer

Lewis Bridal Song 2:20
Isle of Lewis, Scotland

A jaunty, joyous celebration of a small town wedding where everyone knows the bride and groom and wishes them well. Also known as Marie's Wedding, it is well known in Gaelic-speaking lands. There is a popular country dance choreographed to the tune.

Step we gaily on we go,
Heel for heel and toe for toe
Arm in arm and row on row
All for Marie's wedding

Red her cheeks as rowans are,
Bright her eyes as any star
Fairest of them a' by far,
That's our darling Marie

Plenty fish and plenty meal,
Plenty peat to fill her creel
Plenty bonnie bairns as weel
that's the toast for Marie

Riding the Dragon, Donal Og 4:48
China/Ireland

Love and the pain of separation from a loved one transcend cultural boundaries. Here are two songs that also go beyond social limitations complementing each other not only musically but lyrically as well. In fact to "ride the dragon" and to "cross the water" are synonymous in both cultures – a journey to the world beyond. Kaity Newall gave us this translation of Donal Og

Sun a-rising, red and bright
Brother rides a horse to the mountain high.
I ride a dragon dark over 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 will sleep with the great king's daughter

Oh, Donal Og, you'll not find me lazy
Not like some hight-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 a sloe is the heart that's in me
Black as the coal is the grief that binds me
Black as a boot print in a shining hallway
"Twas you who 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

The Greenland Whale Fishery 2:56
Scotland

This song has been popular, both ashore and at sea, possibly since the 1700s. Although Greenland whaling was in decline after 1830 dates as late as 1901 appear in later texts. This version is probably English as the captain remains on board rather than joing the crew as in American ships.

'Twas in eighteen hundred and fifty-three and on June the eighteenth day
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed and for Greenland bore away, brave boys,
For Greenland bore away

The lookout in the crosstrees stood with a spyglass in his hand
"There's a whale. there's a whale. there's a whale-fish" her cried
And she blows at every span, brave boys,
She blows at every span

The captain stood on the quarter deck and a fine little fella was he.
"Overhaul, overhaul and your davit tackles fall
And launch your boats for the sea, brave boys
Launch your boats for the sea."

Now the boats were launched and the men aboard and the whale was in full view.
Resolvéd was each seaman bold
To steer where the whale-fish blew, brave boys
To steer where the whale-fish blew.

Well we struck that whale and the line paid out but she gave a flourish with her tale
Then the boat capsized and four men were drowned
And we never did catch that whale, brave boys
We never did catch that whale

"To lose that whale," our captain cried, "It grieves my heart full sore
But, oh, to lose four gallant sailor lads
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more"

The winter star doth now appear, so, boys we'll anchor weigh.
It's time to leave this cold country
And homeward bear away, brave boys
And homeward bear away.

Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place. It's a land that's never green.
Where there's ice and snow and the whale-fishes blow
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys,
Daylight's seldom seen

Eilan Vannen 4:23
Isle of Mann

An historical account of the wreck of a mail boat, the Eilan Vannen, between Ramsay and Liverpool. The name means "Isle of Man" and the song seems to us to have more than face value — perhaps a lament for the declive of the Manx culture — "lost in the Irish Sea".

Snaefell, Tynwald, Ben A Chree
Forty ships upon the sea
Each one bearing a Manx name
But there's one will never sail again
Oh Ellan Vannin, of the Isle of Man Company
Oh Ellan Vannin, lost in the Irish Sea

It was one a.m. in 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

A Song for Stan Hugill 2:08
© 1987 Fred Gosbee

Fred first saw Stan Hugill at the Mystic Sea Music Festival in 1987. Stan worked as a shantyman in the 1920s and subsequently collected and published sea shantys from the seven seas.

Lay on to 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 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 tattooed arm and rollong gait
Your silver hair and your beard so gray
You're a bridge through time to yesterday, old man

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 book we find
The treasure you had in your mind
And we thank you. You've been very kind, old man

Farewell to Tarwathie 4:27
Scotland

Leslie Cheney - lap harp

Very little seems to be known about this song. Stuart Frank of the Kendall Whaling Museum says that the song was written by a 19th century Scottish sailor to the tune of Blow Ye Winds Westerly, at a time when Dundee and Aberdeen were important whaling ports.

Farewell to Tarwathie, adieu Mormand Hill
And the fair coast of Crimmond, I bid ye farewell
I'lm 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 part
And likewise the dear lass who fair won my heart
The cold ice of Greenland my love will not chill
And the longer my absense more loving she'll feel

Our ship is well-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 blow
And the land and the ocean is covered with snow

The cold coast of Greenland is barren and bare
No seed time or harvest is ever known there
And the birds here sing sweetly in mountain and dale
But there isnae a birdie to sing to the whale

The Mist Covered Mountains 3:04
Scotland

We thank Bernie Houlahan of New Brunswick for this rousing rowing song. Often played as a slow tune. There also exists another set of lyrics in the form of a Jocobite lullaby.

Ho Ha! soon shall I see them O
He ro see them oh see them O
Ho ro soon shall I see them
The mist covered mountains of home

There I shall gaze on the mountains again
On the fields and the woods and the burns and the glens
And away 'mong corries beyond human ken
In the haunts of the deer I will roam

Hail to the mountains with summits of blue
To the glens with their meadows of sunshine and dew
And the women and the men ever constant and true
Ever ready to welcome one home

The Cuillin of Rhum 3:12
Isle of Rhum, Scotland

A dream: a memory hounting the perimeter of the mind. Although printed in Marjory Kennedy Fraser's Songs of the Hebrides with lyrics by Kenneth McLeod, we express deep thanks to Gordon Bok for this song and his lyric in the third verse. A "cuillin" is a high ridge.

Far away seaward my green land, my youth land
Far away seaward the cuillins of home
At night on the dreamtide I'm hearing hill waters
And laughter of streams at the cuillins of Rhum

Far on the dreamtrack thy green hills are lovelit
Where ride the hill waters down to the sea
They tumble at noontide like snow wreath in moonlight
As those who are yearning would yearn it to be

When shall I see your bold shores in the sunlight
The heather of hills at the rising of morn
The blowing grey sea wind goes east in the morning
To run the wild hills of the cuillins of Rhum

Rolling Down to Old Maui 3:24
Nautical

Stan Hugill has stated that this off-watch song may be the most majestic he'd ever heard. In the 1800s the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) were considered home to the sailors who hunted right and bowhear whales in the Bering Straight. This is a song of longing for the women and climate of better latitudes.

It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife
We whale men undergo.
And we don't give a damn when the gale is done
How hard the winds did blow.
We're homeward bound. It's a grand old sound
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.

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.

How soft the breeze of the island seas,
Now the ice is far astern.
Them native maids, them tropical glades
Is a-waiting our return.
Even now their big black eyes look out
Hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails runnin' 'fore the gales
Rolling down to old Maui.

And now we sail with a favoring gale
Towards our island home.
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam.
Our stuns'l booms are carried away
What care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us,
Thank God we're homeward bound!

Maid on the Shore 3:11
New Brunswick

A charming ditty of wicked intentions foiled by resourcefulness. Although some have speculated that perhaps sorcery was involved we think the young lady is just very clever (oh, sure!) We thank Sue Calhoun from Damariscotta, Maine, for this one. Some think this is a variant of Child #43

Leslie Cheney - keyboard

There was a young maiden who lived on the shore
Her beauty shone so 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

There was a bold captain who plowed the salt sea
He plowed the salt sea 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

The first mate he ran and he lowered a boat
And quickly he rowed it to shore-o
To the beautiful maiden these words he did say:
"Fair maid, won't you venture on board, on board
Fair maid won't you venture on board?"

With coaxing, persuading she entered the boat
And quickly he brought her on board-o
The captain, he smiled and he spat out his chew
Saying. "Fare thee well sorrow and care, oh, care
Fare thee well sorrow and care"

The captain he poured out the red sherry wine
That sparkled 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
Then I'll hand you to my crew

"Oh, thank you, oh thank you" the maiden replied
:"That's just what I've been waiting for-o
For Iv'e grown so weary of my maidenhead
As I wandered alone on the shore (oh, sure!)
As I wanderer 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, oh, sleep
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, oh, shore
Row herself back to the shore

And yonder she stands all alone on the sand
Waving her handkerchief fair-o
Saying,"You are the captain who sails the salt sea
And I'm still the maid on the shore, oh, shore
I'm still the maid on the shore

The Great Selchie 5:52
Scotland

Many of the island clans claim to be descended from the selchies or seal-folk: legendary mer-people who transform from seal shape in the water to human form on land. There are numerous tales attributing both positive and negative qualities to these beings. In the end, as with all denizens of faerie, the selchies are just as nature itself simply is. This particular story is from a much longer saga, The Play of the Lady Odivere, from Orkney.

An earthly nourris sits and spins
And aye she sings, "Ba lilly wean
It's little ken I, my bairns daddie
Far less the land that he dwells in."

For he came one night to 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 selkie in the sea
And when I'm far and far from land
My home it is in Sule Skerrie."

And he has taken a purse of gold
And he has set it on her knee
Saying, "Give to me, my little young son
And take thee up thy nurse's fee"

"It shall come to pass on a summer's day
When the sun shines bright on every stone
I'll come and fetch my little young son
And teach him how to swim the foam"

"And you shalt marry a gunner bold
And a right 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

Mingulay Boat Song/Westering Home 3:28
Scotland

The ultimate rowing song, this is practically all that remains of a once thriving fishing community on the Isle of Mingulay, now a bird sanctuary. Interestingly, mingulay means "bird isle" in Old Norse. Although the second song comes from Isla, a long row southeast of Mingulay, we felt they were partners in spirit. In fact we are told there were once seven distilleries on Isla, perhaps worth rowing from as far as Mingulay!

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

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

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!