The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101326   Message #2042824
Posted By: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca
03-May-07 - 09:29 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Scottish Sea Shanties
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Scottish Sea Shanties
Scottish Sea Shanties - NO

There are Gaelic Rowing Songs. They're called Iorrams.

Loch Tay Boat song and Mist Covered Mountains are not Shanties. Actually Mist Covered Mountains is a parting song, where one is leaving their homeland and going over what they're going to be missing as if they were returning at some future date. As mentioned above, the original tune it was written to is an English tune. Not that the tune it is sung to now is that tune. Kishmul's Galley IS one of the old Iorrams "translated" from the Gaelic song. The original GAelic song as mentioned by Julia, has been absorbed into the body of works called "waulking" or "milling" songs used to help fulling the cloth before the industrial revolution invented machines for that purpose.