Look no further. I asked about the Hebridean "Kishmul's Galley."



"Google Bard has coughed up the following poem or song, which it claims was written by Alexander Anderson in 1862:


    "Oh, Kishmul's galley sails the seas,
    She's a phantom galley, all black as night.
    Her sails are tattered, her masts are bare,
    And her crew are the ghosts of the dead."

    "Kishmul's ghost is on board the ship,
    He's a mighty warrior, with a fearsome cry.
    He's seeking revenge for his fallen men,
    And he'll not rest until they're avenged."

    "The galley sails on through the night,
    Her sails are black as the storm clouds overhead.
    She's a phantom ship, a ghost ship,
    And she's heading for the shore."

    "The galley crashes on the rocks,
    And the crew are all drowned.
    Kishmul's ghost is vanquished,
    But his story will live on forever."

Since nothing rhymes, It seems like a translation from the Gaelic.

...But Bing AI has never heard of it, and a Google search turns up nothing! Not even a reference to "Kishmul's ghost"!

What the bloody hell...?!"


From: Lighter - PM
Date: 05 Aug 23 - 07:48 AM

Here's the scoop on those lines.

The so-called "song" was "written" by Google Bard in response to my question, "What are the words to 'Kishmul's Galley?'" It also explained that Kishmul was "a Viking chieftain of the 14th century."

When I challenged authorship by Alexander Anderson (an actual Scottish poet of the period), GB apologized for the error and said it was really written or collected by Alexander Carmichael (another real person) in 1874.

On further cross examination, the duplicitous bot first denied writing "Kishmul's Ghost," then fessed up, saying "I was only trying to be helpful."

It then said that "Kishmul's Galley" (not "Ghost") was first printed in "Songs of the Hebrides, by Alexander Carmichael in 1917.

It apologized again when I pointed out that "Songs of the Hebrides" was really by Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser. It promised to do better.

For the hell of it, I asked Bing AI for the song "Kishmul's Ghost." Here's what it created:


In the misty Hebrides,
Where the sea meets the shore,
Lies a tale of Kishmul's ghost,
A legend of yore.

With his galley and his crew,
He sailed the seas so wide,
A pirate feared by all,
No one could his wrath abide.

But one dark and stormy night,
As the waves crashed on the shore,
Kishmul's galley met its fate,
And was seen no more.

Now they say on moonlit nights,
When the wind howls through the trees,
You can hear the creak of oars,
And the ghost of Kishmul on the breeze.

So beware, all ye who sail,
On the waters of the Hebrides,
For Kishmul's ghost still roams,
And his wrath is not appeased.

(Folklore future-style.)