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Fear a’ Bhata/The Boatman, Roud 4356, Silly Wizard, traditional folk song, Eliza Perks

Fear a’ Bhata/The Boatman, Roud 4356, Silly Wizard, traditional folk song, Eliza Perks

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TitleFear a’ Bhata/The Boatman, Roud 4356, Silly Wizard, traditional folk song, Eliza Perks
AuthorEliza Perks
Duration5:06
File FormatMP3 / MP4
Original URL https://youtube.com/watch?v=9Ev53Ca6wyA

Description

Fear a’ Bhàta (translated The Boatman) is a Scots Gaelic song from the late 18th century, written by Sìne NicFhionnlaigh (Jean Finlayson) of Tong who was courting a young fisherman from Uig, Dòmhnall MacRath. The song captures the emotions that she endured during their courtship. The part of the story that is rarely told is that they were married not long after she composed the song. [Wikipedia]

Lorna Campbell and he Ian Campbell Folk Group sang The Boatman in 1962 at the Jug of Punch folk club at the Crown, Station Street, Birmingham. A recording of this concert was released on their Topic EP Ceilidh at the Crown, and this track was also included in 1966 on the Topic sampler no 5, A Prospect of Scotland.

Sandy Denny recorded the traditional Scots Gaelic song Fhír a Bhata for the BBC World Service radio programme “Cellar Full of Folk”, hosted by Alex Campbell, on 2 December 1966. It was broadcast on 11 January 1967. She sang it in English with the chorus partly in Gaelic, but jokes that she spares the audience from joining in. This recording was made available in 1989 on the fan club cassette The Attic Tracks Vol. 3, in 2007 on the Live at the BBC 3CD+DVD set, and in 2008 on her Island anthology The Music Weaver: Sandy Denny Remembered.

Canterbury Fair sang Fhir a’ Bhata on their eponymous 1977 album Canterbury Fair. They noted:

This beautiful lament of a rejected girl is from Scottish tradition, though it is also now found in Ireland. The version we use here is a composite of both Irish and Scots translations. It can be found in M. Maclean’s The Literature of the Highlands (2nd edition, London 1925), and in A Celtic Miscellany (Penguin Classics). The girls wish to make due apologies for their pronunciation of the Gaelic chorus. ‘Fhir a’ Bhata’ means ‘O my boatman’ and ‘na horo eile’ is a call.

Silly Wizard sang Fhear a Bhata (The Boatman) in 1978 on their second album, Caledonia’s Hardy Sons. They noted:

A song known all over the Highlands and Islands of Scotland telling of a young girl’s love for a man whom she could never hope to keep. The version Andy [M. Stewart] sings is a translation from the Gaelic by Malcolm Lawson.

Credit: mainlynorfolk.info

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