Celtic Folk Skye Boat Song
The Skye Boat Song 14
Chorus:
D A D
Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing,
G D
Onward, the sailors cry.
A D
Carry the lad that's born to be king
G D
over the sea to Skye.
D Em
Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
G Em
Thunderclaps rend the air,
D Em
Baffled our foes stand by the shore,
G Em A
Follow they will not dare.
Cho.
D Em
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
G Em
Ocean's a royal bed.
D Em
Rock'd in the deep Flora will keep
G Em A
Watch o'er your weary head.
Cho.
D Em
Burnt are our homes, exile and death,
G Em
Scattered the loyal man.
D Em
Yet ere the sword, cool in the sheath,
G Em A
Charlie will come again.
Cho.
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This song commemorates the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie from these
shores when Flora MacDonald took him, disguised as a serving maid,
from Uist to Skye in a small boat. Flora later emigrated to the Carolinas in the US, but is
now buried at Kilmuir on the north
coast of Skye.
Prince Charlie is buried near Rome where he was born. The tune has its origins in a
Gaelic sea shanty.
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