Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum

Subject: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: GUEST,Tim
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:23 PM

From the deepest recesses of my childhood (late 50's or early 60's?), I remember a song on a Gordon Bok album (Folk Legacy?) that I can't find. Title something like "The Coolins of Rhum". Anyone know the actual name of the song and the album? Directions to chords, lyrics and/or ABC also appreciated. Thanks.

Tim

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CUILLINS OF RHUM (Gordon Bok)
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:36 PM

TANNAHILL WEAVERS LYRICS glossary index
the mermaid's song choice cuts
tannahill weavers

THE CUILLINS OF RHUM


Lyrics by G. Bok, melody traditional arranged by the Tannahill Weavers
We learned this song in a very roundabout way from the singing of Archie Fisher. We first heard it "after hours" in San Francisco by someone whose name has disappeared into the mists of Glenfiddich. Subsequent "trackery downery" led us to Archie's excellent album Sunsets I Have Galloped Into where it is called The Cuillins of Home. The melody is traditional; Gordon Bok is credited with the lyrics, which seem to be based on the English translation of a Gaelic poem to be found in The Road to the Isles by Kenneth MacLeod. We have used his title The Cuillins of Rhum. Rhum is an island lying off the west coast of Scotland, famous for its beauty and known locally as "the island where no one worries for very long". There is a lovely example of this in a story concerning an old married couple living on the island. One night, as they lay in bed, the wife notices that her husband is having difficulty sleeping.

"Archie", she asks, "Why are you not sleeping? Is something worrying you?" "Och, aye", says he, "It's our next door neighbor, Angus Macfadzean. I owe him £500 and I can't pay him." As calmly as you like, his wife gets out of bed, walks to the bedroom window, opens it, and calls out into the evening air, "Angus Macfadzean! My husband does not have £500! He cannot pay you!"

Calmly she walks back to the bed, kisses her husband lovingly on the cheek, and says, "There you are dear, off you go to sleep and let him worry now."



LYRICS:

Soon shall I see your bright shores in the morning
The heather of hills and the rising of morn
The rolling grey sea mist rolls east in the morning
To run the wild hills of the cuillins of Rhum

Far away seaward thy green hills are lovelit
Where runs the hill water afoam to the sea
Like tangle at noontime, like snow wreath in moonlight
As thou who art yearning will yearn it to be

Far away seaward my queenland, my youthland
Far away seaward the cuillins of home
And here in my dream time I'm hearing hill water
The laughter of streams by the cuillins of Rhum

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: kendall
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:37 PM

That was on his first album, titled GORDON BOK. It was a Verve Folkways production. I'll see if I can come up with the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 01:05 PM

Thanks folks, you've given me great leads to follow!

Tim

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: Barbara
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:29 PM

The trouble with these old albums is they never had liner notes. It was one of the first records I bought in stereo, and is graced with a picture of Gordon, with a pipe, scowling as he gazes earnestly out to sea, looking all of 17.
I remember the song on the first Bok album as going:

"Far away seaward my green land, my youth land
Far away seaward the cuillins of Rhum
Though far in your dreams I am here in your waters
And laughing o'er streams by the cuillins of Rhum.

When shall I see thy bold shores in the sunlight?
The heather of hills in the rising of morn
The cold and grey seawind blows east in the morning
And runs the wild hills o'er the cuillins of Rhum."

And I once ran into some additional verses in a Marion Zimmer Bradley book, one of the Darkover series. (There, all my sins out of the closet!) So I assume there is another translation out there. Don't like my chances of finding them now.

If you care, the tune is mixolydian, and he accompanies it with a whistle. I probably can generate a tune/MIDI if anyone needs it.

Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:59 PM

Barbara:

You're a heroine. As I read your description of the cover, and your recollection of the lyrics, it flooded back. Mentioning the whistle was the final coup -- the tune came back to me.

Thanks, thanks, thanks.

Tim

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 06:31 PM

As far as the Tannahill Weavers' version is concerned, it looks like the folk process ran riot, if Barbara's lyrics are accurate.

Incidentally, I would love to know when the spelling of "Rhum" became common. I know that when I was a schoolboy in the Highlands, every map of the Western Isles that I ever saw had the island spelt "Rum".

I would guess that "Rum" is still the favored spelling among the islanders.

But I may be wrong. I have been before.

Murray

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: Sandy McLean
Date: 21 Nov 02 - 05:17 PM

Hi Murray,
    I just noticed this old thread.
My ancestors came from Rum to Cape Breton in the early 1800's.
My people always spelled it Rum and pronounced it "Ro-om."
Now it seems to be spelled Rhum and often pronounced as "Rum."
I think that the Englishman who built a castle there after the clearance tried to spell the Gaelic sound with an English phonic.
    I have recently recieved a package in the mail from a person   there. The return address says "Isle of Rum."
                      Slainte,
                           Sandy

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: Julia
Date: 21 Nov 02 - 11:17 PM

I believe this actually came from a collection made by Marjory Kennedy Fraser late in the 19th century. Songs of the Hebrides, The Sea Tangle, etc Gordon's aunt used to sing these songs to him. Incredible melody
Gordon wrote the last verse.
I am told by friend on Skye that the traditional pronounciation is Room- it has bee "anglicized to Rum

here is how I learned it from him

Far away seaward my green land, my youth land
Far away seaward the cuillins of Rhum
At night on the dreamtide I'm hearing hill waters
And laughter of streams at the cuillins of Rhum

Far on the dreamtrack thy green hills are lovelit
Where ride the hill waters down to the sea
They tumble at noontide like snow wreath in moonlight
As those who are yearning would yearn it to be

When shall I see your bold shores in the sunlight
The heather of hills at the rising of morn
The blowing grey sea wind goes east in the morning
To run the wild hills of the cuillins of Rhum

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: Sandy McLean
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 10:59 AM

Before the clearance of Rum in 1826, Kilmory was the largest settlement on the island . Neil was my g-g-grandfather. He died on the immigrant ship St.Lawerence. I wrote this song as a tribute to these people.                  
         Sandy               


                      KILMORY FAREWELL

               
       FAREWELL TO OLD KILMORY AS MY SHIP SAILS OUT TO SEA
                                          
       PAST MY NATIVE ISLE OF RUM THAT I NEVER MORE SHALL SEE                                                                                     THE SAINT LAWRENCE IS A SAILING SHIP, HER CARGO REFUGEES
                                       
      EXILES FROM A MISTY HOME IN SCOTLAND'S HEBRIDES


      BY NAME I'M KNOWN AS NEIL Mc LEAN , A MAN WITH FAMILY                CAST UPON THIS ROAD IN LIFE TO SATISFY MAN'S GREED
      THE SAINT LAWRENCE SAILS A STORMY SEA, MY BODY IT GROWS WEAK
      AND DEATH CAN NOT BE FAR AWAY, I CAN HEAR MY MASTER SPEAK


      AND NOW TO YOU MY MARY DEAR, I BID A LAST ADIEU
      I GO TO LIVE IN HEAVEN NOW BUT MY HEART REMAINS WITH YOU
      FOR SOON ON FAR CAPE BRETON ISLE, OUR CHILDREN THEY WILL GROW
      FEAR NOT FOR I'LL WATCH OVER YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO

                ( REPEAT FIRST TWO LINES OF FIRST VERSE )

(c)1996
A.McLEAN
4Oak Crescent
Port Hawkesbury
Nova Scotia
    B9A3H4
                                                                [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: TIA
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 11:12 AM

Beautiful. You folks are all the greatest. My kids have been hearing this song every night for two weeks now. Thanks.

Tim

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 12:44 PM

The Tannahill Weavers don't seem to have read Kenneth MacLeod's book, though they refer to it. Here is the poem as it appeared in The Road to the Isles (1927).

THE COOLIN OF RUM

O Bhrighde! 'tis seaward, the dreamland, the youthland,
O Bhrighde! and seaward the Coolin of Rum,
Afar in the dreamtide I'm hearing hill waters,
Like lilting of streams by the Coolin of Rum.

The Grail of the dreamland, the youthland, is love-lit
Beside the hill waters afoam to the sea,
Like tangle at noontide, like snow-wreath in moonlight,
And thou who art yearning shalt yearn it to be.

O Bhrighde! 'tis seaward, the dreamland, the grail track,
O Bhrighde! and seaward the Coolin of Rum,
Afloat on the dreamtide I'm hearing hill waters
Like laughter of streams by the Coolin of Rum.


"Rum" is printed throughout with an accent mark (not reproducable in html) to indicate a long vowel as described earlier. I don't know why the Tannahills jumped to the conclusion that this is a translation from Gaelic; if they had read MacLeod's notes at the back of the book, they would have known that it is not.

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 11:35 PM

I am trying to find sheet music, or list of chords and lyrics, so I can use this "music about the mountains" in a local program we are doing at our retirement home on May 19.
THANKS!! if you can help me out.
marvin Turner
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 31 Dec 22 - 11:26 PM

Here are the Marion Zimmer Bradley verses mentioned above. Her text implies there are more, but this is all she included.

The wind from the island brings songs of our sorrow
The cry of the gulls and the sighing of streams;
In all of my dreaming, I'm hearing the waters
That flow from the hills in the land of our dreams.

Blow westward, O sea-wind, and bring us some murmur
Adrift from our homeland of honour and truth;
In waking and sleeping, I'm hearing the waters
That flow from the hills in the land of our youth.

We sing in this far land the songs of our exile,
The pipes and the harps are as fair as before;
But never shall music run sweet as the waters
That flow in that land we shall never see more.

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Sep 23 - 02:10 PM

A folk band from Maine, Northeast Winds, had a song called "A Song of Exile" and it had all of the aforementioned Marion Zimmer Bradley lyrics and a third verse (the chorus was "We sing in this far land...")

I'm not sure who wrote them but here they are...

Oh when will my heart e’er be free of this longing?
When will I finally find peace of mind?
When waking and sleeping the past comes to haunt me
And ties that once strengthened are chains now that bind

Then they repeated the "chorus" - We sing in this far land...

The recording was on an album titles "Easy and Free". I can't for the life of me track it down. My mom had the cassette. I've recently reached out to two of the members of the, now extinct, band, via Facebook.

The saga continues...

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Sep 23 - 02:10 PM

A folk band from Maine, Northeast Winds, had a song called "A Song of Exile" and it had all of the aforementioned Marion Zimmer Bradley lyrics and a third verse (the chorus was "We sing in this far land...")

I'm not sure who wrote them but here they are...

Oh when will my heart e’er be free of this longing?
When will I finally find peace of mind?
When waking and sleeping the past comes to haunt me
And ties that once strengthened are chains now that bind

Then they repeated the "chorus" - We sing in this far land...

The recording was on an album titles "Easy and Free". I can't for the life of me track it down. My mom had the cassette. I've recently reached out to two of the members of the, now extinct, band, via Facebook.

The saga continues...

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: Michael O'Leary
Date: 22 Nov 23 - 10:50 AM

I've been doing a deep dive of late into Gordon Bok's work and discography, which led me to this song on his 1965 first album 'Gordon Bok' on Verve Folkways. It's the only one of his albums not available in digital form. I was able to obtain a copy of it on eBay in perfect condition. The song is the fifth track on the first side and is listed simply as 'Rhum'.

Of the twelve tracks on that album ten are on his 2015 retrospective 'Then and Now' album, but 'Rhum' isn't one of them, and it hasn't been reprised on any of his other albums, so it's only found on 'Gordon Bok'. Here are the lyrics as I hear them:

Far away seaward thy green land, my youth land,
Far away seaward the Cuillin of Rhum,
Though far in the dreamtide I'm hearin’ hill waters
And laughter o’ streams by the Cuillin of Rhum.

When shall I see thy bold shores in the sunlight,
The heather of hills in the risin’ of morn,
The blowin’ grey sea wind goes east in the morning
To run the wild hills of the Cuillin of Rhum.

I did find one video of it on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/SyoiU210BL8?si=TEfVUZk81zQED-R_
The rest of the tracks on that album are there as well.

Relating Gordon's lyrics to those mentioned above, his first verse is very similar to the Tannahill Weavers' third verse, and his second verse is very similar to their first. Archie Fisher's version closely parallels the Tannahill Weavers'. As for Kenneth MacLeod's version in 'Road to the Isles', Gordon's first verse is similar to its first and third verses. The only parallels to Gordon's second verse are in the posts of Barbara and Julia above who are recalling lyrics as learned from him, so it could well be that he wrote the second verse as Julia states.

There are no liner notes or lyrics with the 'Gordon Bok' album, and the 'About the Songs' notes on the back cover make no mention of 'Rhum' at all. Also there is no mention of the song on Gordon's website, and it is not included in either of his two books of lyrics, 'Time and the Flying Snow' and 'One to Sing, One to Haul'. So there's the lyrics to be heard on the album track but nothing else about it from Gordon that I can find. Maybe he's discussed it in interviews or concerts.

Here is some info on the island of Rùm and the Rùm Cuillin from Wikipedia's excellent page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B9m
Rùm (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [r?u?m]), a Scottish Gaelic name often anglicised to Rum (/r?m/), is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, in the district of Lochaber. It is the largest of the Small Isles, and the 15th largest Scottish island. The main range of hills on Rùm are the Cuillin, usually referred to as the Rùm Cuillin, in order to distinguish them from the Cuillin of Skye. For much of the 20th century the name became Rhum, a spelling invented by the former owner, Sir George Bullough, because he did not relish the idea of having the title "Laird of Rum".

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: GerryM
Date: 23 Nov 23 - 02:45 AM

Recorded by Australians Gordon McIntyre and Kate Delaney on the Caledonia Dreaming CD, lyrics differing a bit from any posted earlier, presumably the folk process at work. The line in brackets is what I think Gordon sings, which isn't what's written in the liner notes.

The Cuillins of Home

Soon may I see thy bright shores in the sunlight
The heather of hills and the rising of morn
The rolling grey sea-mist blows east in the morning
To run the wild hills of the Cuillins of home

Far away seawards thy green hills are lovely
Where glide the hill waters all down to the sea
They tumble at noontide like snow wreaths in moonlight
And those who heart yearning would yearn it to be
[As those who heart yearn would yearn it to be]

Far away seaward my green land my youth land
Far away seaward the Cuillins of home
While here in my dreamtime I'm hearing hill waters
The laughter of streams by the Cuillins of home

Subject: RE: Old Gordon Bok song sought-Cuillins of Rhum
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 23 Nov 23 - 06:52 AM

The lyrics in GerryM’s post above are the ones sung by Archie Fisher on his album ‘Sunsets I’ve Galloped In To’. Just to throw a small engineer’s implement into the machinery, Archie’s album has the composers as ‘Fisher/Mayo Muir’.