1. |
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THE GREY COAST
Caithness: headland of Picts.
Momentarily their cat’s eye peers
Through the hue of murky centuries;
Their presence barely visible
On the farmed surface;
Their lament lost
Amid the prevailing gale.
The Norsemen
Brought their nets and swords
And hauled their long boats up the beach,
Or skirted beneath the cliffs
Searching for an inver
Where the land exposed an open flank,
Drawing them inland
Upriver ...
To trade or take,
Sew and crop.
Now a lone lobster fisherman
Motors just beyond the breakers.
Inshore waters flash like cuttlefish;
Further out
A spread of rigs and turbines stands
Where the dark brow of the horizon frowns.
Clouds smear in sedimentary stripes
With an infinity of grey shades
Masking where the sky stops.
Here, in the land of my father,
The towns have tired
Of vast rafts of herring boats
Fleeting in and out
Of the North Sea Holes:
Over time they drifted away, forever.
Heading north,
Rock, rail and road
Pleat and twine
Along the eastern shore,
Fringed by patches of crofts and woods.
To the West
Three dark giants break the rule of the sky
As they rise up from the interior,
Their feet hidden
Behind the miles of sliding fields and tumbling dykes.
Locals chatter
In tongues akin to Armagh and Antrim,
Roughly Ross-shire
Waltzing to an Orcadian lilt.
High above their daily voices
The sun keeps a distance.
In the dim twilight
The eastern sky cumulates
Like a vast shore of pale blue pebbles,
Rounded on their rolling
Up and down the waterline,
Forever colliding,
Clocking and cracking
With the push and shove of the moon.
HGN,
September 2018
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2. |
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The Final Trawl (Archie Fisher arr Back of the Moon)
Now it's three long years since we made her pay
Sing haul away my laddie O
And the owners say that she's had her day
And sing haul away my laddie O
So heave away for the final trawl
Sing haul away my laddie O
It's an easy pull for the catch is small
And sing haul away my laddie O
Then stow your gear, lads, and batten down
Sing haul away my laddie O
I'll tak the wheel an' I'll turn her 'round
And sing haul away my laddie O
We'll join the Venture and the Morning Star
Sing haul away my laddie O
Riding high and empty towards the bar
And sing haul away my laddie O
For I'd rather beach her on the Skerry rock
Sing haul away my laddie O
Than to see her torched in the breaker's dock
And sing haul away my laddie O
And when I die you can stow me down
In her rusty hold where the breakers pound
Haul away
Haul away
I'll make the haven of the Fiddler's Green
Sing haul away my laddie O
Where the grub is good, and the bunks are clean
And sing haul away my laddie O
For I've fished a lifetime, boy and man
Sing haul away my laddie O
And the final trawl scarcely makes a cran
And sing haul away my laddie O
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3. |
The Island (song) - Live
05:29
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The Island (Paul Brady)
They say the skies of Lebanon are burning
Those mighty cedars bleeding in the heat
They’re showing pictures on the television
Women and children dying in the street
And we’re still at it in our own place
Still trying to reach the future through the past
Still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone…
Chorus
But Hey! Don’t listen to me!
This wasn’t meant to be no sad song
We’ve heard too much of that before
Right now I only want to be here with you
Till the morning dew comes falling
I want to take you to the island
And trace your footprints in the sand
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We’ll make love to the sound of the ocean
They’re raising banners over by the markets
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown
No way our holy flag is gonna fall
Up here we sacrifice our children
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday
And teach them dying will lead us into glory…
Repeat Chorus
Now I know us plain folks don’t see all the story
And I know this peace and love’s just copping out
And I know these young boys dying in the ditches
Is just what being free is all about
And how this twisted wreckage down on main street
Will bring us all together in the end
And we’ll go marching down the road to freedom…
Freedom
Copyright Round Hill Music
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Hamish Napier Grantown On Spey, UK
Hamish is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from the Scottish Highlands.
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