Follow the Heron

​

The back of the winter is broken
And light lingers long by the door
And the seeds of the summer have spoken
In gowans that bloom on the shore
 

By night and day we’ll sport and we’ll play
And delight as the dawn dances over the bay
Sleep blows the breath of the morning away
And we follow the heron home
 

In darkness we cradled our sorrow
And stoked all our fires with fear
Now these bones that lie empty and hollow
Are ready for gladness to cheer
 

So long may you sing of the salmon
And the snow scented sounds of your home
While the north wind delivers its sermon
Of ice and salt water and stone

***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Karine Polwart. If the rightful owners tell us to do so, we will take them down immediately.***

​

​

Next Market Day

​

A maid goin' to Comber, her markets to larn
To sell for her Mammy three hanks o' fine yarn
She met with a young man along the highway
Which caused this young damsel to dally and stray
 

Sit ye beside me, I mean ye no harm
Sit ye beside me this new tune to larn
Here is three guineas your Mammy to pay
If you lay down your yarn till the next market day

​

They sat down together, and the grass it was green
The day was the fairest that ever was seen
Oh the look in your eye beats a mornin' o' May
I could sit by your side till the next market day

​

The maid then went home and the words that he said
And the air that he played her still rang in her head
She says, I'll go find him by land or by sea
Till he learns me that tune called The Next Market Day

Traditional, arrangements by Margot Merah and Sophie Janna​

​

​

The Lambs on the green hills

​

The lambs on the green hills they sport and they play
And many strawberries grow round the salt sea
How sad is my heart when my own love's away
How many's the ship sails the ocean

​

The bride and bride's party to church they did go
The bride she rode foremost, she bears the best show
But I followed after with my heart full of woe
To see my love wed to another

​

The next time I saw her 'twas in the church stand
Gold rings on her finger and her love by her hand
Says I, My wee lassie, I will be the man
Although you are wed to another

​

The last time I saw her 'twas on the way home
I rode on before her, not knowing where to roam
Says I, My wee lassie, I'll be by your side
Although you are wed to another

​

Stop stop, says the groomsman, till I speak a word
Will you carry your life on the point of my sword
For courting so slowly you've lost this fair maid
So, begone, for you'll never enjoy her

​

Oh dig now my grave, make it long, wide and deep
And sprinkle it over with flowers so sweet
And lay me down in it to take my last sleep
For that's the best way to forget her
 

Traditional, arrangements by Margot Merah and Sophie Janna

​

​

Cruel Sister

​

There lived a lady by the North Sea shore
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
Two daughters were the babes she bore
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

As one grew bright as is the sun,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
So coal black grew the elder one.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

A knight came riding to the lady's door
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
He'd travelled far to be their wooer.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

He courted one with gloves and rings
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
But he loved the other above all things
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

Oh sister will you go with me
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
To watch the ships sail on the sea?
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

She took her sister by the hans
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And led her down to the North Sea strand
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

And as they stood on the windy shore
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The dark girl threw her sister o'er.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
Crying, "Sister, reach to me your hand!
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

"Oh Sister, Sister, let me live,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And all that's mine I'll surely give."
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

"(It's) your own true love that I'll have and more,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
But thou shalt never come ashore."
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

And there she floated like a swan,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The salt sea bore her body on.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

​

Traditional, arrangements by Sophie Janna and Margot Merah

​

​

In Shame

​

They whisper their stories, they glance with the eye
They look over my shoulder when I pass them by
And my father and mother, they treat me the same
Oh hear the nightingale crying in shame love in shame

​

Cling to me tight love, take hold of my hand
and the road it is long love and harsh is the land
It’s the cross we must carry for having no name
Oh hear the nightingale crying in shame love in shame

​

I have wings to my feet and of love I have dreamt
And the moon and the stars oh how friendly they seemed
The touch of his hand in the soft summer rain
Oh hear the nightingale crying in shame love in shame

​

Now once in the starlight when he held me close
Down by the green maddow there grows the wild rose
and the wind sang of love oh how soft it’s refrain
Oh hear the nightingale crying in shame love in shame

​

Hush little darling, we soon will be there
and the blanket of love will surround you with care
no wild tongues of whisper, you will never feel pain
Oh hear the nightingale crying in shame love in shame

​

The meek wil inherit, I curse this decree
And suffers small children will come onto me
And the sins of your father on your head will be laying
Oh hear the nightingale crying in shame love in shame

​

How mute are the birds now my bonnie young boy
how deep is the river, how silent your cry
Let the water baptise you then we’ll both bare a name
Oh hear the nightingale sing there’s no shame no shame

 

***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Sean McCarthy. If the rightful owners tell us to do so, we will take them down immediately.***

​

​

Beeswing

​

I was nineteen when I came to town, they called it the Summer of Love
They were burning babies, burning flags. The hawks against the doves
I took a job in the steamie down on Cauldrum Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl who was working next to me

​

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

​

Brown hair zig-zag around her face and a look of half-surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes
She said "Young man, oh can't you see I'm not the factory kind
If you don't take me out of here I'll surely lose my mind"

​

We busked around the market towns and picked fruit down in Kent
And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives wherever we went
And I said that we might settle down, get a few acres dug
Fire burning in the hearth and babies on the rug
She said "Oh man, you foolish man, it surely sounds like hell.
You might be lord of half the world, you'll not own me as well"

​

We were camping down the Gower one time, the work was pretty good
She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost and I thought maybe we should
We were drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch
And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch

Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough back on the Derby beat
White Horse in her hip pocket and a wolfhound at her feet
And they say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown
But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down
And they say her flower is faded now, hard weather and hard booze
But maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains you refuse

​

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
And I miss her more than ever words could say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
Well I wouldn't want her any other way

 

***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Richard Thompson.. If the rightful owners tell us to do so, we will take them down immediately.***

​

​

Caledonia

 

I don’t know if you can see
changes that have come over me
These past few days I’ve been afraid
that I might slip away

I’ve been telling stories, singing songs
Makes me think about where I come from
That’s the reason that I feel so far away today

​

Let me tell you that I love you
think about you all the time
Caledonia’s calling, I’m going home
If I should become a stranger
that would make me more than sad
Caledonia’s everything I ever had

​

I have moved, I kept on moving
proved the point I needed proving
lost the friends I needed losing, found others on the way
Kissed the ladies, left them crying
stole their dreams, there’s no denying
travelled hard, my conscience flying somewhere in the wind

​

I’m sitting here before the fire
The empty rooms, a forest choir
Flames that could not get any higher
have withered now they’ve gone
Now I’m standing, thinking that my way is clear
I know what I shall do tomorrow
Hands are shaking, kisses flow, I will dissapear
 

***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Dougie MacLean. If the rightful owners tell us to do so, we will take them down immediately.***

​

​

Orphan Girl

​

I am an orphan, on God’s highway
But I’ll share my troubles, if you go my way
I have no mother, no father, no sister, no brother
I am an orphan girl

​

I have had friendships, pure and golden
But the ties of kinship, I have not know them
I know no mother, no father, no sister, no brother
I am an orphan girl

​

But when he calls me, I will be able
To meet my family, at God’s table
I’ll meet my mother, my father, my sister, my brother
No more an orphan girl

​

Blessed savior, make me willing
And walk beside me, until I’m with them
Be my mother, my father, my sister, my brother
I am an orphan girl
 

***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Gillian Welch. If the rightful owners tell us to do so, we will take them down immediately.***

​

​

Hole in the heart

​

I made everything come undone
I made everything fall apart
I quit running to the finishing line
and I went back to the start
I found a great big hole in the middle of my life
Shaped just like my heart, just like my heart

​

Never knew what was under my feet
‘Cause I always had to be on top
And I was so drunk on life
That I didn't taste a single drop
I used to make everything run on time
‘Til I made the whole world stop, I made it stop

​

Now I'm watching the world move in slow motion
Now I'm finding it easy to breathe

​

For too long I was trying to walk
In high heels through a river of mud
For too long I was trying to talk over
The sound of rushing blood
Where truth is a story scribbled in chalk
Just an hour before the flood, before the flood

​

I made everything come undone
I made everything fall apart
I quit running to the finishing line
and I went back to the start
I found a great big hole in the middle of my life
Shaped just like my heart
Just like my heart

 
***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Karine Polwart. If the rightful owners tell us to do so, we will take them down immediately.***

​

​

Lang Road Doon

​

Far are ye gan the day, my Willie-oh?
Far are ye gan the day, sae blithe and bonnie?
Gone o'er the knowe and doon the brae
Tae serve the king you were bound away
Fan will ye come hame tae oor Jamie?

​

Ah mind o' aw the winter's nichts
Ye'd keep me frae hairm
The lang warm days in the summer's licht
Doon on Hully's fairm
Fan ye an' me wid be sae free
Frae thochts and frae cares
'Til the sairgeant, he cam roond
And took ye frae ma airms

​

Ah mind the day ye first cam by
Ye'd cam for the shearin
Dee ya mind how Ah caught yer rovin eye?
But noo Ah'm left here fearin
For noo Ah da ken fan we'll be
Back again thegither
Fur ye are far noo o'er the sea
Fan will oor bairnie see his faither?

​

Ah saa ye tak the lang road doon
Yer claes aw in a bun'le
Suin lost the soond o yer trampin shoon
Ma he'rt ta'en a tum'le
As Ah saa yer heid gang oot a sicht
As Ah luiked across the Mearns
Fa will bide wi me the nicht?
Fa will haud ma bairn?

 
***We do not own the copyright to these lyrics, written by Steve Byrne. If the rightful owners request us to take them down, we will do so immediately.***

​

​

Red is the Rose

​

Red is the rose that in yonder Is the garden grows
Fair is the lily of the valley
Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne
But my love is fairer than any

​

Come over the hills, my bonnie Irish lass
Come over the hills to your darling
You choose the road, love, and I'll make the vow
And I'll be your true love forever

​

't Was down by Killarney's green woods that we strayed
When the moon and the stars they were shining
The moon shone its rays on her locks of golden hair
And she swore she'd be my love forever

​

It's not for the parting that my sister pains
It's not for the grief of my mother
't Is all for the loss of my bonny Irish lass
That my heart is breaking forever

Traditional, arrangements by Margot Merah and Sophie Janna​

​

​

​

​

​