Here's my transcription from the recording found at Spotify:


THE DARK ISLAND
(Alan Bell)
As sung by Alan Bell* on "The Definitive Collection" (2005)

1. On my father's own land I was born to be free.
I was born to the island, the boats and the sea,
To work and to live as we always have done,
But I've no son to follow; the young ones have gone.

CHORUS: Fare thee well, fare thee well, my island, my home.
It's away o'er the ocean now I must roam,
To find a new land and to learn the new ways,
But I hope to return in the future one day.

2. I've known the bad days, of the wild roarin' surf,
And I've felt the salt rain as I cut the peat turf,
And I've mended the nets in the evenin' salt flow.
Now these are my mem'ries wherever I go.

3. The homes are all empty, no fires in the hall,
And the nettles grow tall all along the old lanes
Where as children we laughed and we played our rough games.
Now the children have grown up; the island has changed.

4. The school door is closed and the blackboard is bare.
The old floor is dusty; there's no one to care,
But there we have laughed and danced many a night through.
Now the old ways have ended; we must learn the new.

5. The fishin' is finished and sheep graze the land.
Where my kinfolk once lived there is only the sound
Of the wind and the waves and the wild seabirds' cry.
Now my heart aches with sadness as I say goodbye.


[* Plus some other singers who are unidentified at Spotify. Maybe those are the Taverners?]

Alan Bell recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLLBiiTdygU