There's a gorgeous song about the clearances in Sutherland on an old album I have of Scottish Battle Ballads (can't remember the singer (male) right now--I'll try to come up with it later) . I've always just called it The Shores of Sutherland, but I have no idea if that's its real name or not. It begins: Cold is the wind, and wet, as we make our beds down on the sand. Gathering dulse and clabby doons down by the shores of Sutherland There's a kind of bitter lullabye on the same tape that also refers to Sutherland and I think to taking ship and leaving. That one begins, ***Hush, hush, time to be sleeping Hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping Dreams of peace and of freedom So smile in your sleep bonny baby
Once our valleys were ringing With sounds of children singing But now sheep bleat til the evening And shielings lie empty and broken Those are just a couple of random verses in case someone recognizes it and can post the whole thing. It has a line in it about "and wait to be shipped o'er the ocean" which is what ties it to emigration. I'm at work and can't remember enough of the lyrics to these two to post the whole songs, but I'll try to remember to bring them in and post them on Monday, unless someone's memory is jogged and they beat me to it. Oh, and what about The Broom of the Cowdenknowes? Note from Joe Offer, 5 Sept 2002: ***This song, properly known as "Smile in Your Sleep," was written by Jim McLean. It appears unattributed in the Digital Tradition, under the title Don't Cry In Your Sleep (click). Tune and more complete lyrics are in this thread (click)
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