Sparkling Flash
Sparkling Flash
- Sparkling Flash
- Hal o the Wynd
- Green Grow the Rashes O
- Farewell to the Bonny Banks of Ayr
- American Accent
- The Birkin Tree
- The Broom o the Cowdenknowes
- Suzi Wollenberg
- Fly We Tae Some Desert Isle
- The Bonny Ship the Diamond
- Loch Tay Boat Song
- Song for St Johstone
Lyrics
Sparkling Flash
Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
Doon by the hill of Dunnichen
We laid our Jim in the Angus grun’
As red and bonny as any near
The bloody battle of Nechtansmere
Chorus
And we raised our glasses
To our old friend Jim
The world would brighten
When you began to sing
Then we heard the thunder
We’d all heard afore
With a sparkling flash
and a glorious roar
You sang the songs
of a land you’d known
And you filled the spaces
with great songs your own
And you sang as bonny
as ony chiel
Of the Foundry Bar
and your Angus hills
Chorus
So farewell Jim, you showed me weel
You light the trail I travel still
And the greylag geese will aye chant your name
In your land of songs that I call hame
Chorus
Hal o the Wynd
Words William Soutar; music and arrangement Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
Chorus
Hal o the Wynd he taen the field
Alang be the skinklin Tay
And he hackit doun the men o’ Chattan
Or was it the men o Kay?
When a’ was owre he dichted his blade
And steppit awa richt douce
To draik his drouth in the Skinner’s Vennel
At clapperin Clemmy’s house.
Hal o the Wynd had monie a bairn;
And bairns’ bairns galore
Wha wud speer about the bluidy battle
And what it was fochten for.
“Guid faith! my dawties, I never kent;
But yon was a dirlin day
When I hackit doun the men o’ Chattan;
Or was it the men o Kay?
Green Grow the Rashes O
Robert Burns; arrangement Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
Chorus
Green grow the rashes, O
Green grow the rashes, O
The sweetest hours that e’er I spend
Are spent among the lasses, O.
There’s nought but care on ev’ry hand
In ev’ry hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o’ man
An’ ‘twere na for the lasses, O.
The war’ly race may riches chase
An’ riches still may fly them, O
An’ tho’ at last they catch them fast
Their hearts can ne’er enjoy them, O.
But gie me a canny hour at e’en
My arms about my dearie, O
An’ war’ly cares, an war’ly men
May a’ gae tapsalterie, O!
For you sae douce, ye sneer at this
Ye’re nought but senseless asses, O
The wisest man the warl’ e’er saw
He dearly lov’d the lasses, O.
Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O
Her prentice han’ she try’d on man
An’ then she made the lasses, O.
Farewell to the bonny Banks of Ayr
Robert Burns; arranged Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
The gloomy night is gath’ring fast
Loud roars the wild, inconstant blast
Yon murky cloud is foul with rain
I see it driving o’er the plain;
The hunter now has left the moor
The scatt’red coveys meet secure
While I here wander prest with care
Along the lonely banks of Ayr.
The autumn mourns her rip’ning corn
By early Winter’s ravage torn
Across her placed azure sky
She sees the scowling tempest fly!
Chill runs my blood to hear it rave
I think upon the stormy wave
Where many a danger I must dare
Far from the bonny banks of Ayr.
‘Tis not the surging billow’s roar
‘Tis not that fatal, deadly shore;
Tho’ death in ev’ry shape appear
The wretched have no more to fear.
Farewell my friends, farewell my foes
My peace with these, my love with those
The bursting tears, my heart declare
Farewell, the bonie banks of Ayr!
American Accent
Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
Why do I sing in an American accent
When I only want to be myself?
Why are my words tainted with a Hollywood burr
When I’m only just a boy
From a town ten miles away from Glasgow
When I was a kid, I had three parents
One of them lived behind a screen in the livingroom
Taught me more than the teachers at the school
Mostly it spoke to me in an American accent
At such an impressionable age I thought that it was cool.
And in the holidays on rainy days.
We’d get on a train and ride into town
To see a Disney film
And the queue seemed half a mile long
All the animals spoke in an American accent
From the king of the swingers to the wolf
As it blew the house down
That’s why I sing in an American accent
When I only want to be myself
That’s why my words are tainted with a Hollywood burr
When I’m only just a boy
From a town ten miles away from Glasgow.
The Birkin Tree
Trad, arranged Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
Oh lass, gin ye would think it right
Tae gyang wi me this very night
We’ll cuddle til the morning light
By a’ the lave unseen, O
And ye will be my dearie
My ain dearest dearie
And ye shall be my dearie
Gin ye meet me at e’en, O.
I canna fae my mammy gae
She locks the door and keeps the key
And in the morning charges me
And aye aboot the men, O
For she says they’re a’ deceivers, deceivers, deceivers,
She says they’re a’ deceivers
And ye canna trust tae ane, O.
Oh nivver mind your mammy’s yell
Nae doot she met yer dad hersel’
And should she flyte ye can her tell
She’s aft times done the same O
So lassie, gie’s yer hand on’t, yer bonnie milk-white hand on’t
Lassie, gie’s yer hand on’t, and scorn tae lie yer lain, O.
Oh lad, my haun I canna gie
But aiblins I maun steal the key
I’ll meet ye at yon birkin tree
That grows doon in the glen, O
But dinna lippen laddie
I canna promise laddie
But dinna lippen, laddie,
In case I canna win, O.
So he’s gaen tae the birkin tree
In hopes his ain true love tae see
Fa come trippin ower the lea
But just his bonnie Jean, O
And she’s clinkit doon beside him, beside him, beside him
She’s clinkit doon beside him, upon the grass sae green, O.
“I’m overjoyed wi rapture noo”,
Quo he and kissed her cherry mou’
And Jeannie ne’er had cause tae rue
That night upon the green, O
For she has got her Jonny,
Her ain lovin’ Jonny,
For she has got her Jonny,
And Jonny’s got his Jean, O.
The Broom o the Cowdenknowes
Robert Burns; arranged Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
How blithe was I each morn tae see
My lass come o’er the hill
She tripped the burn and ran tae me
I met her wi good will
Chorus
Oh the broom, the bonny, bonny broom
The broom o the Cowdenknowes
Fain would I be in my ain country
Herding my faither’s ewes.
Hard fate that I should banished be
Gone way o’er hill and moor
Because I lo’ed the fairest lass
That ever yet was born.
Farewell, ye Cowdenknowes, farewell
Farewell all pleasures there
To wander by her side again
Is all I crave or care.
Suzi Wollenberg
Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
Down in Delaware there’s a folk club called the Green Willow
If you play down there, you’re likely to shun your pillow
Folks there know how to party, make a picker feel like a star
Playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi Wollenberg’s Martin guitar.
Suzi and John would host a plague of Scottish musicians
Most fun on the coast, plenty more beer in the kitchen
Suzi would play us Freight Train, Moon Beams Home in a Jar,
Playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi Wollenberg’s martin guitar.
Suzi, what a girl, she hailed from Richmond, Virginia,
She loved her hippos round, she loved her flamingos skinny-a
Last one out of the taxi, first into the bar,
Playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi Wollenberg’s Martin guitar.
Suzi came to Scotland with her real good buddy Eileen,
We sang Dogs songs right where they were from on the road to Aberdeen
Then they stayed with Jonny, toured the Highlands round in a car,
Playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi Wollenberg’s Martin guitar.
Suzi, we’re going to miss you, you really cast a spell
And that dear old Martin, it must be smartin’
Missing the songs you sang so well
But girls like Suz, you never quite lose, great memories travel on far,
Playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi’s, playing on Suzi Wollenberg’s Martin guitar.
Fly We Tae Some Desert Isle
Robert Tannahill
Fly we tae some desert isle
There we’ll pass our days thegither
Shun the world’s derisive smile
Wand’ring tenants o’ the heather
Sheltered in some lanely glen,
Far removed frae mortal ken
Forget the selfish ways o men
Nor feel a wish beyond each other.
Though my friens deride me still,
Jamie I’ll disown thee never
Let them scorn me as they will
I’ll be thine and thine forever
What are a’ my kin tae me
A’ their pride o pedigree
What were life if wanting thee
And what were death if we maun sever.
Fly we tae some desert isle
There we’ll pass our days thegither
Shun the world’s derisive smile
Wand’ring tenants o’ the heather
What are a’ my kin tae me
A’ their pride o pedigree
What were life if wanting thee
And what were death if we maun sever.
The Bonny Ship the Diamond
Trad, arranged Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
The Diamond is a ship, my lads, for the Davis Strait we’re bound
And the quay it is all garnished with bonny lasses round
Captain Thompson gives the order, to sail the oceans wide
Where the sun it never sets, me lads, nor darkness dims the sky.
Chorus
For it’s cheer up me lads, let your hearts never fail,
For the bonnie ship The Diamond goes a-fishing for the whae
Along the quay at Peterhead, the lasses stand aroon
Wi’ their shawls all pulled around them and the saut tears rinnin doon
Don’t you weep, my bonnie lass, though you be left behind
For the rose will grow on Greenland’s ice before we change our mind.
Here’s a health to the Resolution, likewise the Eliza Swan,
Three cheers for the Battler of Montrose and the Diamond, ship of fame
We were the trousers o the white, and the jackets o’ the blue
When we return to Peterhead we’ll hae sweethearts enou’.
It will be bright both day and night, when the Greenland lads come hame
Our ship full up of oil, my lads, and money to our name,
We’ll make the cradles for the rock and the blankets for to tear
And every lass in Peterhead sing “Hushabye, my dear.”
Loch Tay Boat Song
Trad; arranged Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
When I’ve done my work of day,
And I row my boat away
Doon the waters of Loch Tay
As the evening light is fading
And I look upon Ben Lawers
As the evening glory glows
And I think on two bright eyes
And a merry mouth below
Chorus: She’s my lovely nighean ruadh
She’s my joy and sorrow too
And although she is untrue
Well I cannot live without her
For my heart’s a boat in tow
And I’d give the world to know
Why she means to let me go
As I sing huree horo.
Nighean ruadh, your lovely hair,
Has more glamour, I declare
Than all the tresses rare
‘Tween Killin and Aberfeldy
Be they lint-white brown or gold
Be they blacker than the sloe
They are worth no more to me
Than the melting flake of snow.
Here eyes are like the gleam
Of the sunlight on the stream
And the songs the fairies sing
Are like songs she sings at milking
But my heart is full of woe
For last night she bade me go
And the tears begin to flow
As I sing horee, horo.
Song for St Johnstone
Jim Malcolm MCPS/PRS
In the heart of the country
Where a nation was born
An eagle is rising
Another game is on
In the fairest of cities
By the banks o the Tay
An eagle is rising
To meet its destiny
Chorus: St Johnstone, St Johnstone, St Johnstone of destiny
Destiny, destiny, St Johnstone of destiny
St Johnstone, St Johnstone, St Johnstone of destiny
Remember me, remember me, I’ll be there wi’ the best of ye.
At the foot of the mountains
And the height of the tide
An eagle is rising,
Get ready for the ride
And wherever the challenge
Frae Milan to Dundee,
An eagle is rising
To meet its destiny.