Fhir A' Bhàta (Oh, My Boatman)

I climb the mountain and scan the ocean,
For thee, my boatman, with fond devotion;
When shall I see thee? Today? Tomorrow?
Oh! Do not leave me in lonely sorrow.

Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile,
Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile;
Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile,
So fare thee well, love, where ere you be.

That thou'rt a rover my friends have told me,
But not the less to my heart I hold thee;
And every night in my dream I see thee,
And still at dawn will the visions flee me.

Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile,
Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile;
Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile,
So fare thee well, love, where ere you be.

My lover promised to bring his lady,
A silken gown and a tartan plaidie;
A ring of gold which would show his semblance,
But, ah! I fear me for his remembrance.

Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile,
Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile;
Fhir a' bhàta, na ho ro eile,
So fare thee well, love, where ere you be.

####.... Jane Finlayson (see note below). Arranged by Ryan's Fancy (Songs From The Shows ©2001, Avalon Music) ....####

From Craig Cockburn in his article, Traditional Gaelic Song And Singing Sean-Nós, we learn that although usually cited as traditional, this song was originally "composed in the late 18th Century by Jane Finlayson of Tong, Lewis for a young Uig fisherman, Donald MacRae. The part of this story which is rarely told is that they married each other sometime after she wrote the song. The song appears in The Scottish Gael by James Logan, first published 1876."