When I saw this thread I remembered that I had these lyrics from ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ CD that Eric Bogle made with John Munro a few years ago. I think the only one previously posted is ¡®One Small Star¡¯, and I¡¯ve managed to work out the dots so I¡¯ve added these here. (written for the parents of the children killed in Dunblane) From ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ X:2 T:ONE SMALL STAR C:Eric Bogle Q:1/4=105 M:4/4 L:1/8 K:C CD|E3G G2E2|D2C4C2|C3C C2A,2|G,6CD|E3G G2E2| D3C E4|F3E D2(C D)|D6G,2|A2A2B3A||A2G3G GG| F3G A2F2|D6D2|E3E E3D|D2C2C2CC|C3B, A,2B,2|C6|| E2F2|G4c4|A6c2|c2B2A3B|(AG) G4EF|G4(c2B2)| A4F3E|D6G2|G4C4|A2F6|B4(G2c2)|c6|] OLD AND IN THE WAY The time has come could be a while But I'll start to see it in their eyes They're trying hard, they joke and smile But I can see the day When they've had enough of duty's lot Enough of watching as I fad But my kids will fight the very thought That I'm old and in the way. My wits dart quick as ever could Which makes the pain far greater still This shell can't move the way it should Or speak the words my mind would say Inside I watch my own decline Along with those who love me best They bear their pain, I live with mine 'cause I'm old and in the way. Ch An independence of my own The garden or the corner store It's at an end - not safe alone Or so at least the doctors say The kids will quickly rally round 'Come stay with us, we've lots of room' Does my life depend upon them now? Am I so old and in the way? And so at last the time has come My dignity just slips away Will I let them see me fall so far? Well, that'll be the day Old folks home - there I said the words 'It¡¯s for the best' they'll bravely say And with brittle smiles they'll come at first And then slowly fade away They feel the guilt and I despair Of strangers' cool and distant care But I'll be here and they'll be there No longer in the way. From ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ ONE SMALL STAR When I need to feel you near me I stand in this quiet place With the silver light of countless stars Falling on my face Though they all shine so brightly Somehow it comforts me to know That some who burn the brightest died an eternity ago. Ch But your light still shines It's one small star to guide me And to help me hold back the dark Your light's still shining in my heart. I'm learning how to live without you Though I never thought I could And even how to smile again And I never thought I would And to cherish the heart's memories That can bring you back to life Though some caress me gently And some cut me like a knife. Can your soul be out there somewhere Beyond the infinity of time I guess you've found some answers now I'll have to wait for mine Till my light joins with yours someday. To shine through time and space And one day fall, in a distant age Upon some stranger's face. POACHER'S MOON Moon on the water cold frosty night World full of shadows and silver light Your blood is singing to an old wild tune Your heart beats faster it's a poachers moon. Beneath dark water by the rivers edge The salmon is resting on a gravel bed Cam frae the ocean cam hame tae spawn Back to the tweed river where it was born Man o the river all the days of your life You love it better than your kids and wife It¡¯s beauty caresses, it's peace consols The song of it's journey runs deep in your soul Salmon and poaching its aye been the same Both play their parts in a far bigger game Through ages uncounted as the years spin roond Play hunter and hunted 'neath the poachers moon Fish in the torchlight oh see how it gleams a nice wee present frae the Earl o' Weymess Nothing tastes sweeter nothing tastes as good As a poor man's belly full of rich mans food The torch is steady the salmon is still The cleek is ready and noo the kill White water splashes red water runs Tail madly thrashes and this games done But the old days are gone noo from the river tweed Always when a man took little more than his need Oh one for the table one tae buy a wee dram It¡¯s cyanide and nets now and refrigerated vans And the salmon are fewer getting less every year The river noo runs like a lang empty tear All through bonny Tweedale past sheiling and toon Dying in the cold light o' a poachers moon From ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ THE BALLAD OF CHARLES DAVENPORT Welcome home to Derby Charles Welcome back from Nova Scotia So many miles so long to wait And never know your mother But I knew you'd mend the broken thread The one I never wanted broken So now we'll set the record straight Trade one past for another. I never think about the war It conjures up too many shadows When life was hanging by a thread And nothing seemed to matter Then a child myself, I bore a child They said it best to hand you over And who was I, in guilt and shame To think that I knew better. The sisters said they'd bring you up And give you what I couldn't offer Another family, different name They said I'd soon forget you And to keep you from the pain and loss 'Poor Orphan' was the tale they told you and to cleanly cover every trace to Canada they sent you. You must have wondered through the years As you grew to be this different person What link you were within the chain What went to make this man And oh, to be somebody's son And oh, to be somebody's brother To be complete, to know your name And how your life began. You found your way to Derby, Charles You've tracked me down from Nova Scotia To kneel beside the stone that says I was your loving mother But you took too long, I couldn't wait But here you see I always loved you Too late to see it in my eyes Too late for starting over. From ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ THE STRANGERS 'Welcome stranger' - the hills a' seem tae say Their Border colours of green and brown and purple and grey Are sae familiar and yet they're a' sae strange So I answer 'hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?' 'Welcome stranger' the curlew seems tae cry A scrap o' paper whirlin' in the muddy sky My heart remembers his bittersweet refrain Yet I answer 'hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?' ch: But the Tweed still runs down past that wee Border toon Where my parents lived and died It¡¯s where the boy was born, It¡¯s where the man was formed Where my past and my present collide Where the man who is and the boy who was Will not look for each other again Too many threads have been unstrung too much water has run Under the bridge between now and then. 'Welcome stranger' the west wind seems tae sing A promise bearer o' the comin' o' the spring My senses waken tae the scent and taste o' hame Yet I answer 'hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?' 'Welcome stranger' the whole valley seems tae call It once seemed boundless, aye but now it seems sae small It¡¯s far horizons the years have crossed and tamed So I answer 'hello stranger, is it you or me who's changed?' From ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ WERE YOU THERE? Were you there in the beginning When the parties were for singing And for 'fathoming the bowl'! Drinking by the kitchen door And did you sleep on someone's floor When the song was in your soul. Ch: Looking back to when Ewan wrote the songs we sang And Hamish played the blues Remember when Ray and Archie sang in harmony The Star Club was the place to be, with Alex singing 'goodbye booze'. In the Folk Club's candled glimmer You were audience and singer There were fewer of us then And you knew the folk who listened In a place where no stars glistened With no thought of 'us and them'. Now you look out at the faces At the hundreds in their places And you don't see one you know Now it's record deals and airplay And the company wants their say And the money's all the go. But it's not like - Folk Song I gave you All the best years of my life 'cause wee Eric writes the songs the Fisher's are still singing Dick Gaughan helps us look inside our soul And when all is said and done And it's really like it was those years ago. From ¡®The Emigrant & The Exile¡¯ Hope these are of use. Marion
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