Emily Smith with Julie Fowlis & Liam OMaonlai - Caledonia

A sailor and his true love

Lay doon tae mak their moan

When in by came ain o their countrymen

Saying rise up my bonny lassie

Mak haste and come awa

There’s a vessel lying bound for Caledonia.

Oh said the sailor, are ye willing for tae pay

Five hundred guineas

Afore on board ye gay?

I’ll pay them plack and farthing

Afore on board I go

If ye’ll tak me tae my bonny Caledonia.

Oh, said the sailor her money we will tak

And when we’re on the sea

We’ll throw her over deck

Or sell her for a slave

Lang ere she win ava

And she’ll never see her bonny Caledonia.

Well said the captain, well that’ll never do

For there are nae slaves

Sold intae oor country noo

They’d hang us ane and a’

They would hang us every man

If we sold her for a slave to Caledonia.

Well, said the sailor she’s lying doon below

She’s bound hand and foot

Ready overboard to throw

She’s bound hand and foot

Ready overboard to throw

And she’ll never see her bonny Caledonia.

So, the captain away tae the fair maid he has gane

Says what is the reason

That ye’re lying here sae lang

An' what is the reason

That ye’re lying here at all?

For you’ve paid your passage dear tae Caledonia.

Oh, said the lassie, oh woe is me

That ever I was born

Sic hardships for tae see

For the sailors got a lassie

He likes better far than me

And it causes me to weep for Caledonia.

So the captain away to the sailor he has gane

He’s ta’en him by the neck

And him overboard has thrown

Saying tak this cup of water

Though the liquor be but sma’

And drink your lassie’s health tae Caledonia.

They’ve sailed east and they’ve sailed west

Until they reached the land

That they a’ loved the best

For the winds they did roar

And the seas they did beat

And they’ve all arrived safe to Caledonia.

Well they hadna been there

But three quarters of a year

When in fine silks and satins

He’s made her for tae wear

When in fine silks and satins

He’s made her for tae go

Noo, she’s the captain’s wife in Caledonia.

      A beleza das canções escocesas. Caledónia era a denominação atribuída pelo Império Romano à região setentrional da ilha da Grã-Bretanha - a parte que ficava a norte da Hadrian's Wall -, grosso modo correspondente ao território actual da Escócia. Hoje, o termo tem uma conotação poética e sentimental.