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FAREWELL TO TARWATHIE (2) (George Scroggie) Farewell to Tarwathie Adieu, Mormon Hill Land of my fathers I bid you farewell. Your hills and your valleys, Your mountains of heath Still dear to my heart Is the land of my birth. Adieu to my comrades May God bless you all; My friends and relations I bid you farewell. For a while I must leave you And go to the sea Heaven prosper the bonny ship That I will go wi' May He who never slumbers From danger us keep, While viewing his wonders On the mighty deep. Our ship she is rigged And ready to sail, Our crew they are anxious To follow the whale. Where the icebergs float, And the stormy winds blow; Where the land and the ocean Is covered with snow. The cold clime of Greenland Is barren and bare; No seed time nor harvest Is ever known there. The birds here sing sweetly On mountain and dale; But the songsters are mute In the land of the whale. There is no habitation For man to live there The king of that country Is the fierce Greenland bear. But when I am sailing Upon the wide main, Be cheerful and happy Till I come again. And you my dear mother, O weep not for me, But trust in His mercy That ruleth the sea. Who saves on the ocean As well's on the land, For we are all guarded By His mighty hand. He rides on the billows And walks on the wave His arm is powerful To sink or to save. And though I be absent You need never fear; There's no place so distant But God will be there. I will pray night and morning, Dear parents, for you; For the hope of returning Takes the sting from adieu. George Scroggie from "The Peasant's Lyre, A Collection of Miscellaneous Poems" Strichen, Aberdeen, printed by William Bennett 1857 This song was also recorded by Ewan MacColl on the Washington album, "Whaling So ngs," MacColl and Lloyd. It is also in the anthology, "The Singing Island," MacC oll-Seeger. The notes, in both cases by Lloyd give no authorship but do state th at the tune is also that of "Green Bushes" and "The Waggoner"s Lad." A further look at "The Singing Island" yields the following, Fareweel To Tarwath ie -- Contributed by A.L. Lloyd, who learned it from John Sinclair, a native of Ballater, in Durban, South Africa, 1938. filename[ TARWATH2 JRO |
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