The lads of Uist are scattered around he world in every place, some in Egypt, Asia and S. Africa, some imprisoned in Germany, some who will never return. (tír na h-innse, the Indian subcontinent) The verse with all the names is naming prisoners of war whom the poet is thinking about.
S iomadh athair is màthair ,,,= many a father and mother are left sorrowful, every day and night they have little sleep or ease, they are thinking of the lads who face the battle, and pray they will be freed from their enemies.
some of them are in prison, some in the air force, the navy the army .. it is my wish that they will overcome every hardship and beat the enemy
before I conclude, my wish for our (Nazi) enemies is that they will be imprisoned forever 'S gillean Uibhist gan stialladh le slatan iarainn gu bàs. and the Uist lads striking them with iron rods til death
Calum Cameron (1898-1969) is not known to have written any other songs. B' e Gillean Uibhist a tha air an ainmeachadh anns an t-òran gillean à Uibhist a Tuath a bha air an toirt nam prìosanaich le na Gearmailtich nuair a chaidh an 51st Highland Division a ghlacadh aig St Valery en Caux anns an Fhraing anns an Ògmhios 1940. The Uist men mentioned in the song were imprisoned by the Germans when the 51st Highland Division was captured in France in June 1940