Sailing homeward to Mingulay

For January I have chosen the haunting ‘Mingulay Boat Song’ which has gone down very well with most classes. This song was not meant to be accompanied by instruments, but chanted in unison with the full breaths that it takes to pull long ropes or oars. In this aspect it is similar to the songs of chain-gangs swinging axes, being work songs to keep physical workers in unison. Therefore it is really sung best if you move your body in time to its rhythm, as if rowing a boat homeward. It was also good to find that ‘The Minch’, ‘bairns’ and ‘’ere’ are entries in my electronic E-J dictionary so there is no feeling of ‘we’re not learning real English here’.

Heel yo ho, boys; let her go, boys;
Bring her head round, into the weather,
Hill you ho, boys, let her go, boys
Sailing homeward to Mingulay

What care we though, white the Minch is?
What care we for wind or weather?
Let her go boys; every inch is
Sailing homeward to Mingulay.

Heel yo ho, boys; let her go, boys;
Bring her head round, and all together,
Hill you ho, boys, let her go, boys
Sailing homeward to Mingulay

Wives are waiting, by the pier head,
Or looking seaward, from the heather;
Pull her round, boys, then we’ll anchor
`Ere the sun sets on Mingulay.

Heel yo ho, boys; let her go, boys;
Bring her head round, into the weather,
Hill you ho, boys, let her go, boys
Sailing homeward to Mingulay

Ships return now, heavy laden
Mothers holdin’ bairns a-cryin’
They’ll return, though, when the sun sets
They’ll return to Mingulay.

Heel yo ho, boys; let her go, boys;
Bring her head round, and all together,
Hill you ho, boys, let her go, boys
Sailing homeward to Mingulay

The original lyrics were written by Sir Hugh S. Roberton in 1938, however the original tune was a pipe tune, "Creag Guanach"; from Lochaber.

What is interesting about this song is that, even though it sounds authentic, it was never sung by the inhabitants of the isle of Mingulay.

Situated at the southern end of the Outer Hebrides, the storm-tossed rocky sanctuary was abandoned in 1912 after almost 2000 years on human habitation. Life presumably became too difficult to continue. The island is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is inhabited only by sheep and seabirds.

Having started with America and now on to Scotland, to continue with a song for every month until the next TOEIC venture, we are going to move south to England next.