Tracks:

The Water is Wide

Rolling Hills Of The Border

Both Sides The Tweed

White Squall

Caledonia

Rigs O' Rye

Lily Of The West

Jeanne C.

The Mary Ellen Carter

Forty-Five Years

No Mans Land

Credits:

Alex Beaton – vocals, guitar

Eric Rigler – highland pipes, uillean pipes

Bob Gothat – guitar

Bart Samolis – bass

Alasdair Fraser - fiddle

The Water Is Wide

The water is wide I can’t cross o’er

And neither have I wings to fly

Build me a boat that can carry two

And both shall row my love and I

For love is gentle and love is kind

Just like a flower when first it’s new

But love grows old and waxes cold

And fades away like morning dew

There is a ship and she sails the sea

She’s loaded deep as deep can be

But not as deep as the love I’m in

I know not if I sink or swim

I leaned my back up against an oak

Thinking it was a trusted tree

But first it bent and then it broke

And so did love prove false to me

Rolling Hills Of The Border

Chorus:

When I die bury me low

Where I can hear the Bonnie Tweed flow

A sweeter place I never did know

Than the rolling hills of the border

I have traveled far and wide

seen the Hudson and the Clyde

I’ve courted by Loch Lomond’s side

But I dearly love the border

Chorus

It’s well that I can mind the day

With my lass I stroll by the Tay

But all its beauty fades away

Among the hills of the border

Chorus

There’s a certain peace of mind

Bonnie lassies there you’ll find

The men are hard but still so kind

Among the hills of the border

Chorus

White Squall

Now it’s just my luck to have the watch,

With nothing left to do

But watch the deadly waters glide

As we roll north to the Soo

And wonder when they’ll turn again

And pitch us to the rail

And whirl off one more youngster in the gale

The kid was so damned eager

It was all so big and new

You never had to tell him twice

or find him work to do

And evenings on the mess deck

He was always first to sing

And show us pictures of the girl he’d wed in spring

Chorus

But I told that kid a hundred times,

Don’t take the lakes for granted

They go from calm to a hundred knots

So fast they seem enchanted

But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl

Lies staring at the wall

And her lovers gone into a white squall

Now it’s a thing that us old timers know

In a sultry summer calm

There comes a blow from nowhere

And it goes off like a bomb

And a fifteen thousand tonner

Can be thrown upon her beam

While the gale takes all before it with a scream

The kid was on the hatches,

Lying staring at the sky

From where I stood I swear I could see tears fall from his eyes

So I hadn’t the heart to tell him

That he should be on a line

Even on a night so warm and fine

Chorus

When it struck, he sat up with a start,

I roared to him get down

But for all that he could hear

I could as well not made a sound

So I clung there to the stanchions

And I felt my face go pale

As he crawled hand over hand along the rail

I could feel her heeling over

With the fury of the blow

I watched the rail go under

Then so terrible and slow

Then like some great dog,

She shook herself and roared upright again

Far over side, I heard him call my name

Chorus

So it’s just my luck to have the watch

With nothing left to do

But watch the deadly waters glide

As we roll north to the Soo

And wonder when they’ll turn again

And pitch us to the rail

And whirl off one more youngster in the gale

Chorus

Caledonia

I don’t know if you can see the changes that have come over me

These last few days I’ve been afraid that I might drift away

I’ve been telling old stories and singing old songs

That make me think of where I come from

And that’s the reason why I seem so far away today

Chorus

Let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time

Caledonia you’re calling me, I’m coming home

And if I should become a stranger

You know that would make me more than sad

Caledonia you’ve been everything I’ve ever had

I have roved and kept on moving, proved the point that I needed proving

Lost the friends that I needed losin’, found others on the way

I’ve kissed the ladies, left them crying, stolen dreams, there’s no denying

I have traveled hard with my conscience flying somewhere in the wind

Chorus

Now I’m sitting here before the fire, the empty room and the forest choir

The flames that couldn’t get any higher,

Well they’re withered now, they’re gone

But I’m steady thinkin’ my way is clear, and I know what I’ll do tomorrow

My hands are shaking and the kisses flow,

But I will disappear

Chorus

Rigs O’ Rye

‘Twas in the month of sweet July

Before the sun had pierced the sky

I sat between twa rigs o’ rye

And I heard twa lovers talking

Noo the lad says lassie I must away

For I have no longer time to stay

But I’ve a word or two to say

If you’ve the time to tarry

Yer faither o’ you he takes guid care

Yer mother combs down yer yellow hair

Yer sister say that ye’ll get nae share

If you gang wi me a stranger

Let my faither fret and my mother frown

My sisters words I do disown

If they were dead and below the ground

I would gang wi you a stranger

O lassie lassie yer fortunes sma’

And maybe it will be none at a’

O I’m no match for you of a’

Go lay yer love on another

Now this lassies courage it began to fail

Her rosy cheeks they grew wan and pale

The tears came tricklin’ doon like hail

Or a heavy shower in the summer

He’s taken his handkerchief o’ linen fine

He’s dried her cheeks and he’s kissed her eyen

Saying lassie lassie ye shall be mine

For I said it a’ tae try ye

This couple they are married noo

And they’ve got bairnies one and two

They live in Brechin the winter through

Aye and in Montrose in the summer

Lily Of The West

When first I came to Ireland

Some pleasure for to find

It’s there I spied a damsel fair

Most pleasing to my mind

Her rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes

Like arrows pierced my breast

And they called her lovely Molly O,

The Lily of the West

One day as I was walking

Down by a shady grove

I spied a lord of high degree

Conversing with my love

And she sang a song delightfully

While I was sore oppressed

Saying I bid adieu to Molly 0

The Lily of the West

I stepped up with my rapier

And my dagger in my hand

And I dragged him from my false love

And boldly did bid him stand

But being mad with desperation

I swore I’d pierce his breast

I was then deceived by Molly O

The Lily of the West

I then did stand my trial

And boldly I did plea

A flaw was in my indictment found

And that soon had me free

That beauty bright I did adore

The judge did her address

Now go you faithless Molly 0

The Lily of the West

Now that I’ve gained my liberty,

A rovin’ I will go

I’ll ramble through old Ireland

And travel Scotland o’er

Though she thought to swear my life away,

She still disturbs my rest

Oh I still must style her Molly O

The Lily of the West

Jeannie C.

Come all ye lads draw near by me

That I be not forsaken

This day was lost the Jeannie C.

And my living has been taken

I’ll go to sea no more

We set out this day in the bright sunrise

The same as any other

My son and I and old John Price

In the boat named for my mother

I’ll go to sea no more

Now it’s well you know what the fishing has been

It’s been scarce and hard and cruel

But this day, by God, we sure caught cod

And we sang and we laughed like fools

I’ll go to sea no more

I’ll never know what it was we struck

But strike we did like thunder

John Price gave a cry and pitched over side

Now it’s forever he’s gone under

I’ll go to sea no more

A leak we’ve sprang let there be no delay

If the Jeannie C. we’re saving

John Price is drowned and slipped way

So I’ll patch the hole while you’re bailing

I’ll go to sea no more

But no leak I found from bow to hold

No rock it was that got her

But what I found made me heart stop cold

For every seam poured water

I’ll go to sea no more

My God I cried as she went down

That boat was like no other

My father built her when I was nine

And he named her for my mother

I’ll go to sea no more

And sure I could have another made

In the boat shop down in Dover

But I would not love the keel they laid

Like the one the waves roll over

I’ll go to sea no more

So come all ye lads draw near to me

That I be not forsaken

This day was lost the Jeannie C.

And my whole life has been taken

I’ll go to sea no more

The Mary Ellen Carter

She went down last October in a pouring driving rain

The skipper he’d been drinking and the mate he felt no pain

Too close to three mile rock and she was dealt her mortal blow

And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low

There were just us five aboard her when she finally was awash

We worked like hell to save her all heedless of the cost

And the groan she gave as she west down it caused us to proclaim

That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again

Well the owners wrote her off, not a nickel would they spend

She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end

But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest below

Then they laughed at us and said we had to go

But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock

She’s worth a quarter million, afloat and at the dock

And with every jar that hit the bar, we swore we would remain

And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

Chorus:

Rise again rise again, that her name not be lost to the knowledge of men

All those who loved her best and were with her ‘til the end

Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

All spring now we’ve been with her on a barge lent by a friend

Three dives a day in a hard hat suit and twice I’ve had the bends

Thank God it’s only sixty feet and the currents here are slow

Or I’d never have the strength to go below

But we’ve patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and porthole down

Put cables to her, ‘fore and aft and girded her around

Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain

And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

For we couldn’t leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale

She’d saved our lives so many times, living through the gale

And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave

They won’t be laughing in another day

And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow

With smiling bastards, lying to you everywhere you go

Turn to, and put Out all your strength of arm and heart and brain

And, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!

Chorus

No Mans Land

Well, how do you do young Private Macbride

Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside

And rest for awhile ‘neath the warm summer sun

I’ve been walking all day and I’m nearly done

I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen

When you joined the Great Fallen is 1916

I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean

Or William Macbride was it slow and obscene

   Chorus:

   Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly

   Did the rifles fire o’er ye as they lowered you down

   Did the bugle sound the last post and chorus

   Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest

   Did you leave any wife or a sweetheart behind

   In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined

   Although you died back there in 1916

   In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen

   Or are you a stranger without even a name

   Enclosed there forever behind some glass pane

   In an old photograph torn, tattered and stained

   And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame

Chorus

Oh the sun now it shines on the Green Fields of France

There’s a warm summer breeze it makes the Red Poppies dance

And see how the trenches are vanished ‘neath the plow

There’s no gas, no barbed wire, there’re no guns firing now

But here in this graveyard, it’s still no mans land

The countless white crosses in mute witness stand

To mans blind indifference to his fellow man

And a whole generation that was butchered and damned

Chorus

Ah young Private Macbride I can’t help wonderin’ why

Do those that lie here know why they died

And did they believe when they answered the call

Did they really believe that this war would end war

Ah the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the shame

The killing and the dying were all done in vain

For young William Macbride it all happened again

And again and again and again and again

Chorus

Both Sides The Tweed

What’s the spring breathing jasmine and rose

What’s the summer with all its gay train

What’s the splendor of autumn to those

Who’ve bartered their freedom for gain

Chorus

Let the love of our land’s sacred rights

To the love of our people succeed

Let friendship and honour unite

And flourish on both sides the Tweed

No sweetness there senses can cheer

Which corruption and bribery bind

No brightness the sun can e’er clear

For honours the sum of the mind

Chorus

Let virtue distinguish the brave

Place riches in lowest degree

Think them poorest who can be a slave

Them richest who dare to be free

Chorus

Forty-Five Years

Where the earth shows its bones of wind broken stone

And the sea and the sky are one

I’m caught out of time, my blood sings with wine

And I’m running naked in the sun

There’s God in the trees, I’m weak in the knees

And the sky is a painful blue

I’d like to look around, but honey, all I see is you

The summer city lights will soften the night

‘Till you’d think that the air is clear

And I’m sitting with friends where forty-five cents

Will buy another glass of beer

He’s got something to say, but I’m so far away

That I don’t know who I’m talking to

‘Cause you just walked in the door, and honey, all I see is you

Chorus

And I just want to hold you closer than I’ve ever held anyone before

You say you’ve been twice the wife and you’re through with life

Ah but honey what the hell’s it for

After twenty-three years you’d think! could find a way

To let you know somehow

That I want to see your smiling face forty-five years from now

So alone in the lights on stage every night

I’ve been reaching out to find a friend

Who knows all the words, sings so she heard

And knows how all the stories end

Maybe after the show she’ll ask me to go

Home with her for a drink or two

Now her smile lights her eyes, but honey, all I see is you

Chorus