“Skye Boat Song (Over the Sea to Skye)”
Description
"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing... Carry the lad that's born to be king Over the sea to Skye." The singer grieves over the dead of Culloden, and wishes Bonnie Prince Charlie a safe escape
Notes
It is ironic to note that, while this song had a certain vogue as an art piece, the only traditional collections seem to have been in North America.
Susan Maclean Kybett, in _Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Biography of Charles Edward Stuart_ (Dodd, Mead, 1988), pp. 232-233, makes an interesting observation: Although the song says that Flora (MacDonald) will keep watch over Charlie during the passage: "It was actually the Prince who kept watch by Flora's weary head during their storm-tossed crossing of the sea of the Hebrides. Having been up the last two nights sewing, she fell asleep while Charles saang Jacobite songs, such as 'The Twenty-ninth of May' from the rising of 1715 and 'The King Shall Enjoy His Own Again....'" - RBW
Historical references
- 1720-1788 - Life of Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie"
- 1722-1790 - Life of Flora MacDonald
- 1745-1746 - '45 Jacobite rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie
- Apr 16, 1746 - Battle of Culloden. The Jacobite rebellion is crushed, most of the Highlanders slain, and Charlie forced to flee for his life.
- Jun 28-29, 1746 - Aided by Flora MacDonald, and dressed as her maidservant, Charles flees from North Uist to Skye in the Hebrides.
- Sep 20, 1746 - Charles finally escapes to France
Cross references
- cf. "Flora MacDonald's Lament" (subject)
- cf. "Twa Bonnie Maidens" (subject)
Broadsides
- NLScotland, RB.m.143(121) "Over the Sea to Skye," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
References
- Brewster 79, "Speed, Bonnie Boat" (1 fragment plus a copy of Boulton's original text)
- DT, SKYEBOAT
- Roud #3772
- BI, Brew79