Music

Music

Track listing and lyrics

for our latest release, PER ARDUA

Valley of Drumoak

(Instrumental)
by Music by The McKintree Boys

Will Ye Not Come Back Again

Words by Carolina Oliphant, traditional Scottish tune
Bonnie Charlie's now away
Safely o'er the friendly main;
Many a heart will break in two
Should he no come back again.
Ye trusted in your Highland men,
They trusted you dear Charlie!
They kept you hiding in the glen,
Death and exile braving.
Will ye no come back again?
Will ye no come back again?
Better loved ye cannot be;
Will ye no come back again?
English bribes were all in vain
Though pure and pure we may be
Siller cannot buy the heart
That aye, beats warm for thine an thee.
We watched thee in the gloomin' hour
We watched thee in the mornin' grey
Though thirty thousand pounds they give,
Oh, there is none that would betray!
Sweet's the levuruck's note an' long,
Liltin' wildly up the glen;
But aye to me he sings a song,
"Will ye no come back again?"
 

The Auld Pat Henry 

Words by Adam McIntyre, music by The McKintree Boys
Quick, come away my darling, it's time for us to part
Now leave behind that hovel in a bog and make a brand new start
We'll sail on Patrick Henry, and onboard we'll catch our breath
and shout just like her namesake, "liberty or death!"
And death has made himself at home, full upon the Isle
The Blight of all our kinsmen and the englishman's denial
We bid farewell to the grassy turves, goodbye to the whip
and set a course for old New York aboard this coffin ship
I'm not sure where were going, but it can't get worse my love
So we'll hope and pray and trust our God above
Huddled in the fo'c'sle, with a pound of mouldy tac
Beneath the roaring gales, we hear the thunder crack
At dawn the water's quiet, and we raise our limey rum
One more soul rests 'neath the sea, as we hear the fun'ral drum
I'm not sure where were going, but it can't get worse my love
So we'll hope and pray and trust our God above
For the sun it flies and shines each day, o'er in grand Americay
So hold fast my love and we'll walk her shores one day
Now, come away me darling, It's time for us to part
The ship is in the harbor, this is our brand new start
But now a dreadful feeling as the dock rolls into sight
These brand new days in Old New York, will birth a brand new fight 

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

(Instrumental)
by Music by Ludwig Von Beethoven

In The Sod

Words by Adam McIntyre, music by The McKintree Boys
Well if you take me by the hand, when my last breath, I be breathin'
I'll whisper gently in your ear advice that you'll be needin'
When I'm down in the sod and I stand before God
Don't fear for it's clear that I am home.
Aye, the smiles cheer me, with those I love near me I have
All that my heart may desire
with walls for wind and a roof for the rain
and drinks beside the fire
The end is here it's true my love
But do not be afraid
For the distant hills look green my love
Ive only time to say one thing
And Yea though I walk through the valley of death 
I will not fear the devil
The valleys will be filled, the footpaths made straight
and mountains will be made level

Per Ardua

Words by Adam McIntyre, music by The McKintree Boys
Distant country, Distant land, Foreign nation, foreign man
left his stronghold in Andrew's guile, full were the arms of Erin's Isle
But don't look back.
the night's turned the ocean to black
So we'll sail on toward the dawn
Fought for freedom, fought for love, Still left thirsty for stronger stuff
Rotten wages, rotten food, Walk the road he must pursue
But don't look back.
The night's turned the ocean to black
So we'll sail on toward the dawn
Per Ardua
The darkness cannot fight the dawn, so carry on 
Per Ardua
You know that death has lost her sting, so forever sing,  Per Ardua
Distant country, Distant land Foreign nation, foreign man
On a journey to fertile soil, To plant his seeds, his sweat, his toil

Mairi's Wedding

Words and music by John Bannerman, translated by Hugh Roberton
Step we gaily, on we go 
Heel for heel and toe for toe,
Arm in arm and row on row
All for Mairi's wedding. 
Over hillways up and down
Myrtle green and bracken brown,
Past the sheilings through the town
All for sake of Mairi. ..Chorus
 
Red her cheeks as rowans are
Bright her eyes as any star,
Fairest o' them all by far
Is our darlin' Mairi
Plenty herring, plenty meal
Plenty peat to fill her creel,
Plenty bonny bairns as well
That's the toast for Mairi. 

Those Sweet Eyes

Words by Adam McIntyre, music by The McKintree Boys
He is crouched on the bank of a river of gold
That carries more river than gold
He places his finger on the picture of a girl
His true love he left half a world away
It's 1852, three years since his crew 
Took port in San Francisco Bay
So on this hill he now sat wondering how he'd get back
To the girl in the old photograph
He said, "I'd know those sweet eyes anywhere
Bright as a midsummer's morning
I hope that you've kept safe my heart
It's been yours since the day I was born"
Well he must have dug ten thousand holes
Washing for gold all the while
But when his claim had been jumped and the hills had dried up
He'd still pull out her photo and smile
And then one day a mule brought a letter
Penned from the girl in the frame 
It said, "I'm sorry love, but I married last winter
I prayed for years, but you never came"
The years passed by in the blink of an eye
And there was nothing that ever hurt more
So stayed he right there, in San Francisco Bay
And he opened his very own store.
When one winter's morn toward the twilight of his days
A ship from the old country sailed in
When off of the boat stepped a widow in black
He felt a stiff chill down his spine
His hat he removed as he walked down the dock
But his gaze would not lift from the ground
He trembled, when he saw her face 
He cried when she uttered the sound
She said, "I'd know those sweet eyes anywhere
Bright as a midsummer's morning
I hope that you've kept safe my heart 
It's been yours since the day I was born"