'The night was dark, the road was long'

Subject: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: GUEST,Mister Barky
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 09:39 PM

Hi, Mudcat folk -- my Scottish wife is looking for a song that she's lost her recording of. It was sung by Kenneth McKellar, and the chorus goes "The night was dark, the road was long, and the owls they went coo-coo" (or at least that's how she remembers it). It was about a farmer and his daughter being stopped by robbers and having everything stolen but their gold, hidden in the daughter's mouth. The punchline is that if his wife had been with them they could've hidden the horse and cart as well because "she'd a mouth like a 12-inch gun"... Not in the database that I can find, and not online either -- any clues? Thanks!

Subject: RE: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: cnd
Date: 24 Sep 20 - 03:48 PM

I didn't see a song that bore a title similar to that after skimming quickly through McKellar's discography, but then again, it's pretty lengthy. Perhaps someone else knows?

Subject: RE: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Sep 20 - 04:17 PM

Many thanks for digging, though! Hoping someone else might be able to provide a clue... The Internet has thus far proven unhelpful.

Subject: RE: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 06:07 PM

...yet we never could think we were rash or wrong...

Subject: RE: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: GUEST,Shimzin
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 01:34 AM

Hi. Did you ever find this song? I have been looking for it too and it doesn't appear to be on Youtube. It's called Old Ballad and is track 5 on an album called Kenneth Mckellar today released 1989 but available on iTunes amongst other places. It was released on cd because originally I borrowed it from my local library.

Subject: RE: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 05:18 AM

It's on a CD called McKellar Today. It is called 'An Old Ballad circa 1988' and is also called 'The Farmer's Daughter.' the song was written by McKellar, as was another on the same CD 'A Wee Place in the Highlands' a very funny satire on city people buying weekend places in the country and jacking the prices up for the locals.

Subject: RE: 'The night was dark, the road was long'
From: GUEST,#
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 11:13 AM

Thanks to GUEST in the 21 Jun 21 - 05:18 AM post, I found the following on the McKellar Today recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xadUVONvCCo&list=OLAK5uy_lvV9hU7SyukjWg_usRukDrfSqAHGz7Y7E&index=4