8 O'CLOCK AND MABOU

    I LEFT MY HOME AT EIGHT O'CLOCK, AS SOBER AS COULD BE
    HEADING INTO MABOU TO BUY A POUND OF TEA
    TOMMY FRASER MET ME AS I WALKED ALONG THE ROAD
    HE SAID " JUMP UP INTO THE CAB ,WE'RE HEADING TO GLENCOE."

                           (CHORUS)
    BETWEEN 8 O'CLOCK AND MABOU I MUST HAVE LOST MY WAY
    I DIDN'T MAKE IT HOME THAT NIGHT OR FOR ANOTHER DAY
    BETWEEN 8 O'CLOCK AND MABOU I WENT UPON A SPREE
    AND IF THERE'S MOONSHINE IN THE JUG THEN PASS IT ON TO ME


    TOMMY DROVE THE OLD FORD LIKE A DEMON THROUGH THE RUTS
    POTHOLES BANGING ON THE SPRINGS, A ROOSTER TAIL OF DUST
    BUT HE PULLED HER OVER WHEN WE GOT TO JOE MAC LEAN'S
    A GALLON JUG OF MOONSHINE WAS OUR PURCHASE THERE THAT DAY

                           (CHORUS)

      WE HEADED INTO MABOU AND WE WENT TO LITTLE NEIL'S
      AND HE TOOK DOWN HIS FIDDLE FOR TO PLAY SOME JIGS AND REELS
      SOON THE NEIGHBORS GATHERED AND A CEILIDH'S UNDER WAY
      AND THEN WE DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN IF IT WAS NIGHT OR DAY

                           (CHORUS)

       WHEN I FINALLY MADE IT HOME MY WIFE WAS AT THE DOOR
       GIVING ME A LECTURE LIKE I NEVER HAD BEFORE
       SHE ASKED ME WHERE THE HELL I'D BEEN AND WHAT I HAD TO SAY
      "BETWEEN 8 O'CLOCK AND MABOU I MUST HAVE LOST MY WAY."

                         (CHORUS)

                  (c) 1999 Alexander McLean
                      a.mclean@ns.sympatico.ca




This song that I wrote is popular with folks where I perform. I qualify it by stating that the story is partly true but the names have been changed to protect the guilty. :-} The air is traditional, similar to The Wabash Cannonball. Mabou is/was home to the Rankin Family, John Allen Cameron, Dan R. MacDonald and many other fine musicians. Glencoe lies in the hills between Mabou and Whycocomagh and has a degree of fame in Cape Breton for producing excellent 'shine! The Rankin Family's Glencoe Shuffle tells its story.