The Skye Boat Song
If there’s one thing that I love more than a good song, it’s a song that has a story. This particular song has been a favorite of mine ever since Outlander made its debut on Starz nearly ten years ago. However, when I first heard it, I didn’t know the history behind it. I just enjoyed the mysterious melody and the lyrics that spoke of something magical; the perfect companion to the story of a woman who finds herself over two hundred years in the past.
When I was preparing to finish my bachelor’s in English, I chose to write about the book series for my capstone; a topic that probably brought my professor to the end of his wits, but one that brought me so much satisfaction. All these years later, I am joyfully revisiting the series, but this time I want to talk about “a song of a lass that is gone.”
The Skye Boat Song as we know it was originally written as a Gaelic love-gone-wrong song called Cuachag nan Craobh or Cuckoo of the Tree. The composer, William Ross, wrote the song back in 1782. It involves a man talking to a cuckoo about a woman who refused his confession. If you want to hear the original, click on the link below. https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/16968?l=en
In the 1870s, Sir Harold Boulton changed the lyrics to the song and the first English version of the Skye Boat Song came to be. The song retells the history of Bonnie Prince Charles, the grandson of King James II, running away from British soldiers after the Rising of 1745. According to the story, Charles was dressed as the maid of Flora MacDonald and taken by boat to the Isle of Skye off the coast of Scotland.
The Skye Boat Song – Traditional Lyrics
as composed by Sir Harold Boulton
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that’s born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.
Many’s the lad, fought in that day
Well the claymore did wield;
When the night came, silently lay
Dead on Culloden’s field.
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean’s a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep,
Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.
Burned are their homes, exile and death
Scatter the loyal men;
Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath
Charlie will come again.
Anyone who watched Outlander would know that Charlie did not come to Scotland again. In fact, he returned to France, finally settling in Italy, where he lived out his life in exile. The Highlander clans were either killed off at the battle of Culloden or were scattered and sent to prisons to await execution or indentured servitude throughout the British Empire. The Scottish way of life was forever changed by this failed Rising. The men were no longer allowed to wear their traditional plaids, which identified their clans through color and pattern. Nor could they carry their swords, known as claymores. Gaelic was forbidden. It is only in the past ten or twenty years that the language has made a recovery, being taught in Scottish schools. There’s even a BBC channel for Gaelic speakers. That’s such a wonderful thing.
- By the way, if you want to hear the traditional song, there’s a new episode of Doctor Who (“Boom”) in which the Doctor (played by Ncuti Gatwa) sings a small piece of it. It’s also just a good episode. Please enjoy.
But back to the Skye Boat Song…
In 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson decided that Boulton’s lyrics needed to be rewritten. Instead of the morbid reminder of a lost culture, Stevenson wanted to bring a sense of romance to the song and to the story. This version is closer to the one adapted for Outlander’s first season opener.
Sing me a Song of a Lad that is Gone
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.
Mull was astern, Rum on the port,
Eigg on the starboard bow;
Glory of youth glowed in his soul;
Where is that glory now?
Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.
Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone!
Give me the eyes, give me the soul,
Give me the lad that’s gone!
Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.
Billow and breeze, islands and seas,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone.
Skip ahead about one hundred and twenty-two years. Many different singers have added one or the other version of this song to their repertoire. The Isle of Skye proudly uses the phrase “Over the sea to Skye” as a way of bringing tourism to their little island. And Bear McCreary borrows the song as the introduction to Clare and Jamie.
Mostly McCreary only changes one word (“lass” instead of “lad”), but that along with the beautiful vocals of Raya Yarbrough brings so much magic to the song. Suddenly the song isn’t about Bonnie Prince Charles, but about Clare’s travels through history.
There is one more change, but a small one. The word “day” is reimagined as “dais” – pronounced the same. Someone once told me that a dais was a small boat. Although I could not confirm that without further research, it makes sense within the scope of the song.
If you haven’t watched Outlander (you really should) and want to listen to the song in full, I recommend McCreary and Yarbrough’s “Outlander – The Skye Boat Song (Extended),” available on Spotify…
…I may or may not have recently been caught singing this at the top of my lungs in the middle of my neighborhood nature center while on a hike. I am not ashamed.
Book Gnome 