Digital Tradition Mirror

Hieland Laddie (4)

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Hieland Laddie (4)

There was a laddie cam' from Scotland
     Hielan'laddie, bonnie laddie
Bonnie laddie from fair Scotland
     Me bonnie hielan' laddie, O

cho: Way, hay an' away we go
     Hielan' laddie, bonnie laddie
     Way, hay an' away we bo
     Me bonnie hielan' laddie, O

Where have ye been a' the day?
Where have ye been a' the day?

I did not see ye soon the glen
I did not see ye near the burn.

Nay, I wuz no doon the glen,
Nay I was no near the burn.

But I went to seek a road to fortune,
Thought I'd fins a road to fortune.

I joined a ship and went a-sailin'
Sailed far north and went a-whalin'.

Shipped far north on a Dundee whaler
Shipped far north as a whalin' sailor.

Bound away to Iceland cold
Found much ice but not much gold.

Greenland is a cold country
Not the place for you and me.

Thought it was the way to fortune
But whalin's not the way to fortune.

Wished meself in bonnie Scotland
Back again in bonnie Scotland.

We caught some whales and boiled their blubber
Oil and fat choked every scupper.

We'll soon be homeward bound to Scotland
Homeward bound to bonnie Scotland.

I'll be glad when I get hame
I'll gie up the whalin' game.

Oh, hielan' laddie went a sailin'
Hielan' laddie went a-whalin'.

Note: According to Hugill, this long version was a capstan
shanty; as a halyard shanty, the chorus was dropped. Other
versions use the same words as Donkey Riding (also see Donkey Riding),
but keep only the first and second lines of each verse,
interspersing "hielan' laddie, bonnie laddie" refrain.
RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!