Lyr ADD: The Sands of the Shore / ... o' the Shore

Subject: The Sands of the Shore
From:
Date: 26 Oct 96 - 01:31 PM

I have a tape from the radio that's driving me crazy. I can make out most of the words, but one crucial line in the chorus eludes me. It goes like this:

Oh, the sands o' the shore and the waves of the sea. When his back is turned, he's a stranger to me, A stranger to me and ah say la tih dee! I care no more for him than the waves of the sea.

It's in a dialect that I've made to effort to re- produce. What in the blazes is that missing half line? It surely isn't "ah say la tih dee" but that's what it sounds like to me.

Subject: RE: The Sands of the Shore
From:
Date: 28 Oct 96 - 09:16 AM

How about "I say til I die"? The Scots "I" and "die" being pronounced "ah" and "dee".

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SANDS OF THE SHORE
From:
Date: 24 Jan 97 - 01:44 PM

I learned this recently from a Scottish friend. The lyrics as she sings them are as follows:

THE SANDS OF THE SHORE

CHORUS:
The sands o' the shore and the waves o' the sea;
When his back is turned, he's a stranger to me,
Aye, a stranger to me, and as strange as can be;
I care nae more for him than the waves o' the sea.

I aince had a true love, but noo I hae nane;
He took awa' my hairt, but I got it back again.
Aye, I got it back again, and as frail though it be,
I care nae more for him than the waves o' the sea.
CHORUS:

He gave me the present of a fine diamond ring;
He thought it would entice me to gang awa' wi' him,
But I wasnae sae foolish as he took me to be--
For I care nae more for him than the waves o' the sea.
CHORUS:

Oh he is the son of some high-rankin' kin,
While I am just the daughter of a poor workin' man.
But he can drink his wine, and I'll sip my tea;
Fow I care nae more for him than the waves o' the sea.

Subject: RE: The Sands of the Shore
From: anne cormack
Date: 25 Jan 97 - 09:17 AM

The missing words are "sae let it be" -- sae being Scottish dialect for "so".

Subject: RE: The Sands of the Shore
From: GUEST,mike pritchard
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 07:37 AM

I would go for either "and I say, let him die" or possibly "and I say, let him be". I prefer the first option but think the second is more likely.

Subject: RE: The Sands of the Shore
From: Jack Campin
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 12:20 PM

Anne's version has to be right, albeit nobody unfamiliar with Scots would get it on first hearing.

It's an odd song. The tune is strikingly cheerful and jaunty considering what the words say.

Subject: RE: The Sands of the Shore
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 01:47 PM

Norman Buchan established a Ballads Club at my secondary school (Rutherglen Academy, near Glasgow/Scotland) in 1957 and gave us all a great grounding in good traditional music. When he then went into Parliament in 1964 a new young English teacher Ian Davison (now a prolific songwriter) took over the club and one of his pupils brought in "The Sands of the Shore"; Kathleen Mitchell told Ian that she had learned it from her granny, but although Ian did some research on it at that time he failed to identify it.
I was a member of the Ian Davison Group (typical name for the times!) and we sang it around quite a lot; another former pupil Mary Stewart sang it regularly about then in the Kilmarnock Folk Club -- which is where I believe that Heather Heywood probably first heard it. And Heather eventually recorded it....
Seems like a possible time line to me, but I'd be delighted to learn any more from anyone who knows better.

And we had it as " He's a stranger to me and so let it be" (although the vowels were more Scottish!).