Disk 1
Introduction
Willie’s Gone to Melville Castle
The Road to Dundee
Pipes in the Glenn
River
Mary Ellen Carter
The Battles O’er
Ceiledh Medley
Return to Kintail
Sitting on the Stern of a Boat
Paddy Fahey’s Jig
The Weeping Birches of Kilorack and Madame Neruda
Jig O’Slurs, Athole Highlander and the Fairy Dance
Disk 2
Introduction
Highland Piping Medley
The Green Fields of France
Mary Mack
A Scottish Soldier
Richard McIlvery Introduction
Alasdiar Fraser Introduction
Fiddle Medley
Fiddle and Highland Pipe Medley
Song for Ireland
Mrs. MacLeod of Rassay and Scotland the Brave
Chorus:
Willie’s gone to Melville Castle
Boots an’ spurs an’ a’
To bid the ladies a’ farewell
Before he gaes awa’
Willie’s young an’ blythe an’ bonnie
Lo’ed by one an’ a’
O what will a’ the lasses do
When Willie gaes awa’
The first he met was Lady Kate
She led him thro’ the ha’
And wi’ a sad and sorry heart
She let the tears doon fa’
Beside the fire stood Lady Grace
Said ne’er a word at a’
She thocht that she was sure o’ him
Before he gaed awa’
Chorus
Then ben the house came Lady Bell
Gude troth ye needna craw
Maybe the lad will fancy me
An’ disappoint ye a’
Doon the stair tript Lady Jean
The flow’r among them a’
Oh lasses trust in providence
And ye’ll get husbands a’
Chorus
When on his horse he rode awa’
They gathered round the door
He gaily wav’d his bonnet blue
They set up sic a roar
Their cries their tears brought Willie back
He kiss’d them one an’ a’
Oh lasses bide till I come hame
And then I’ll wed ye a’
Chorus
Cauld winter was howlin' o'er muir and o'er mountain,
And wild was the surge of the dark rolling sea,
When I met about daybreak a bonnie young lassie,
Wha’ asked me the road and the miles to Dundee.
Says I, "My young lassie, I canna' weel tell ye,
The road and the distance I canna' weel gi’e.
But if you'll permit me tae gang a wee bittie,
I'll show you the road and the miles to Dundee".
At once she consented and gave me her arm,
Ne'er a word did I speir wha the lassie might be,
She appeared like an angel in feature and form,
As she walked by my side on the road to Dundee
At length wi' the Howe o' Strathmartine behind us,
The spires o' the toon in full view we could see,
She said "Gentle Sir, I can never forget ye
For showing me so far on the road to Dundee".
This ring and this purse prove to you I am grateful.
And some simple token I trust you’ll gi’e me;
And in years to come I’ll the laddie remember
That showed me so far on the road to Dundee.
I took the gowd pin from the scarf on my bosom
And said "Keep ye this in remembrance o' me”
Then bravely I kissed the sweet lips o' the lassie,
E'er I parted wi' her on the road to Dundee.
So here's to the lassie -
And ilka young laddie that's list'ning to me,
O never be sweer to convoy a young lassie
Though it's only to show her the road to Dundee.
Twas in the summer of ’45,
The Young Pretender did arrive
And the misty highlands came alive
At Glenfinnan, by the loch-
The royal standard soon was raised.
With power and charm he set ablaze
The chieftain’s hearts to join the fray,
Oh Scotia, the lions roar.
Chorus:
And we’ll march in the name of brave Charlie.
Hear the cries o’ the highland men.
“Should we stand as one, we’ll march in the sun
To the sound o’ the pipes in the glen,
To the sound o’ the pipes in the glen.”
With claymores drawn against the crown,
Jacobites stood on higher ground.
As Charlie spoke there was ne’er a sound,
‘Cept the rustle of the heather floor.
Then a roar went up for the rightful king
And the courage that his words could bring.
So voices through the years could sing
Of Charlie for evermore.
Chorus
by Bill Staines
I was born in the path of the winter wind
I was raised where the mountains are old.
Their springtime waters came dancing down
And I remember the tales they told.
The whistling ways of my younger days
Too quickly have faded on by
But all of their memories linger on
Like the light in a fading sky.
Chorus:
River, take me along
In your sunshine, sing me a song
Ever moving, and winding and free;
You rolling old river, you changing old river
Let's you and me, river, run down to the sea.
I've been to the city and back again
I've been moved by some things that I've learned;
Met a lot of good people and I’ve called them friends
Felt the change when the seasons turned.
I've heard all the songs that the children sing
And listened to love's melodies;
I've felt my own music within me rise
Like the wind in the autumn trees.
Chorus
Someday when the flowers are blooming still
Someday when the grass is still green
My rolling waters will round the bend
And flow into the open sea.
So here's to the rainbow that's followed me here,
And here's to the friends that I know;
And here's to the song that's within me now
I will sing it where'er I go.
Chorus
by Stan Rogers
She went down last October
in a pouring driving rain
The skipper he’d been drinking
and the mate he felt no pain
Too close to three mile rock
and she was dealt her mortal blow
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low
There were just us five aboard her
when she finally was awash
We worked like hell
to save her all heedless of the cost
And the groan she gave
as she west down it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again
Well the owners wrote her off,
not a nickel would they spend
She gave twenty years of service,
boys, then met her sorry end
But insurance paid the loss to us,
so let her rest below
Then they laughed at us
and said we had to go
But we talked of her all winter,
some days around the clock
She’s worth a quarter million,
afloat and at the dock
And with every jar that hit the bar,
we swore we would remain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again
Chorus:
Rise again rise again
That her name not be lost
to the knowledge of men
All those who loved her best
and were with her ‘til the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again
All spring now we’ve been with her
on a barge lent by a friend
Three dives a day in a hardhat suit
and twice I’ve had the bends
Thank God it’s only sixty feet
and the currents here are slow
Or I’d never have the strength to go below
But we’ve patched her rents,
stopped her vents,
dogged hatch and porthole down
Put cables to her, ‘fore and aft
and girded her around
Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air
and then take up the strain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again
Chorus
For we couldn’t leave her there,
you see, to crumble into scale
She’d saved our lives so many times,
living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats
who left her to a sorry grave
They won’t be laughing in another day
And you, to whom adversity
has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards,
lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put Out all your strength
of arm and heart and brain
And, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!
Chorus
Chorus
(Andy Stewart)
I return to the fields of gloryWhere the green grass and flowers grow
And the wind softly sings the story
Of the brave lads of long ago
In the Great Glen they lie a sleeping
Where the cool waters gently flow
And the grey mist is sadly weeping
For the brave lads of long ago
Chorus:
March no more my soldier laddie
There is peace where there once was war
Sleep in peace my soldier laddie
Sleep in peace now the battle’s o’er
See the tall grass is there a waving
As their flags were so long ago
With their heads high were forward braving
Marching onwards to meet the foe
Some returned from the fields of glory
To their loved ones who held them dear
But some fell in their hour of glory.
And were left to their resting here
Chorus
Well, how do you do young Private MacbrideDo you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for awhile ‘neath the warm summer sun
I’ve been walking all day and I’m nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the Great Fallen is 1916
I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or William Macbride was it slow and obscene
Chorus:
Did they beat the drum slowly,
Did they play the fife lowly
Did the rifles fire o’er ye as they lowered you down
Did the bugle sound the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest
Did you leave any wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
Although you died back there in 1916
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without eves a name
Enclosed there forever behind some glass pane
In an old photograph torn, tattered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame
Chorus
Oh the sun now it shines on the Green Fields of France
There’s a warm summer breeze it makes the Red Poppies dance
And see how the trenches are vanished ‘neath the plow
There’s no gas, no barbed wire, there’re no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard, it’s still no mans land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To mans blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation that was butchered and damned
Chorus
Ah young Private Macbride I can’t help wonderin’ why
Do those that lie here know why they died
And did they believe when they answered the call
Did they really believe that this war would end war
Ah the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the shame
The killing and the dying were all done in vain
For young William Macbride it all happened again
And again and again and again and again
Chorus
(air: 'Up among the heather')
There's a nice wee lass and her name is Mary Mack
Mak’ no mistake, she's the miss I'm goin' to tak'
There's a lot of other chaps would get upon her track
But I'm thinking that they'd have to get up early
Chorus:
Mary Mack's father's makin’ Mary Mack marry me
My father's making me marry Mary Mack
I'm goin’ tae marry Mary to get married and tak’ care o' me
We'll a’ be mahin’ merry when I marry Mary Mack
Now, Mary and her mother gang awfa’ lot the gither
In fact ye never ever see the one or one without the other
The fellows often winner if it’s Mary or her mother
Or the both o’ them the gither that I'm courtin’
Chorus
Now, the weddin’ day's on Wednesday and everything's arranged
Her name will soon be changed tae mine, unless her mind be changed
And wi’ making the arrangements, faith, I'm just about deranged
For marriage is an awfa’ undertaking
Chorus
It's sure tae be a grand affair and grander than a fair
A coach and pair for rich and peer and every pair that's there
We'll dine upon the finest fare, I'm sure tae git my share
If I don't we’ll be very much mistaken
Chorus
There was a soldier, a Scottish soldier,
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away.
There was none bolder, with good broad shoulder,
He fought in many a fray. And fought and won!
He'd seen the glory and told the story,
of battles glorious and deeds victorious.
But now he's sighing, his heart is crying,
To leave these green hills of Tyrol.
Chorus:
Because these green hills are not Highland hills.
Or the island hills they're not my land's hills!
And fair as these green foreign hills may be,
They are not the hills of home.
And now the soldier, this Scottish soldier,
Who'd wandered far away and soldiered far away;
Sees leaves are falling and death is calling,
And he will fade away, in that far land!
He called his piper, his trusty piper,
And bade him sound a lay, a pibroch sad to play.
Upon a hillside, but Scottish hillside,
Not on these green hills of Tyrol.
Chorus
And so this soldier, this Scottish soldier
Will wander far no more and soldier far no more.
And on a hillside, a Scottish hillside,
You’ll see a piper play His Soldier home!
He’d seen the glory, he’d told the story,
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious,
The bugles cease now, he is at peace now,
Far from those green hills of Tyrol.
Chorus
Phil Colclough
Walking all the day
Near tall towers where falcons build their nests
Silver winged they fly,
They know the call of freedom in their breasts
Saw black head against the sky
Where twisted rocks run down to the sea
Chorus:
Living on your western shore,
Saw summer sunsets, asked for more
I stood by your Atlantic sea
And I sang a song for Ireland
Talking all the day
With true friends, who try to make you stay
Telling jokes and news,
Singing songs to pass the night away
Watched the Galway salmon run
Like silver dancing darting in the sun
Drinking all the day
In old pubs where fiddlers love to play
Someone touched the bow,
He played a reel, it seemed so fine and gay
Stood on Dingle beach and cast,
In wild foam we found Atlantic Bass
Chorus
Dreaming in the night,
I saw a land where no one had to fight
Waking in your dawn,
I saw you crying in the morning light
Lying where the Falcons fly,
They twist and turn all in you e'er blue sky
Chorus
Hark when the night is falling,
Hear, hear the pipes are calling,
Loudly and proudly calling,
Down thro' the glen.
There where the hills are sleeping,
Now feel the blood a-
High as the spirits of the old Highland men.
Chorus:
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart forever,
Scotland the brave.
High in the misty Highlands
Out by the purple islands,
Brave are the hearts that beat
Beneath Scottish skies.
Wild are the winds to meet you,
Staunch are the friends that greet you,
Kind as the love that shines from fair maidens' eyes.
Chorus
Chorus
Land of my heart forever,
Scotland the brave.
