"The Skye Boat Song" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

3772) is a late 19th-century Scottish song adaptation of a Gaelic song composed c.1782 by William Ross, entitled ''Cuachag nan Craobh'' ("Cuckoo of the Tree"). In the original song, the composer laments to a cuckoo that his

unrequited love Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep affection, or may consciously reject it knowing that the admirer admires them. Me ...

, Lady Marion Ross, is rejecting him. The 19th century English lyrics instead evoked the journey of Prince

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

("Bonnie Prince Charlie") from

Benbecula Benbecula ( ; or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by ...

to the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

as he evaded capture by government soldiers after his defeat at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

in 1746. Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet composed the new lyrics to Ross's song which had been heard by Anne Campbell MacLeod in the 1870s, and the line "Over the Sea to Skye" is now a cornerstone of the tourism industry on the Isle of Skye. Alternative lyrics to the tune were written by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

, probably in 1885. After hearing the Jacobite airs sung by a visitor, he judged the lyrics to be "unworthy", so made a new set of verses "more in harmony with the plaintive tune". It is often played as a slow lullaby or

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

, and entered into the modern folk canon in the twentieth century with versions by

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (22 March 1936 – 13 September 2023) was a Kenyan-born British singer-songwriter and musician. His music is an eclectic mixture of folk music and popular songs, the latter variously in a crooning or in a schlager ...

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, and many others.

Content

The text of the song gives an account of how Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a serving maid, escaped in a small boat after the defeat of his

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

, with the aid of

Flora MacDonald Flora MacDonald (1722 – 5 March 1790) is best known for helping Charles Edward Stuart evade government troops after the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. Her family had generally backed the government during the 1745 Rising, and MacDonald l ...

. The song draws on the motifs of Jacobitism although it was composed nearly a century and a half after the episode it describes.. . Especially Stevenson's version, which gives the boat's course (Mull was astern, Rum on the port, Eigg on the starboard bow) seems to describe Charles's flight from the mainland, but that is unhistorical. The only time Charles was in Skye was when he left Benbecula in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

to avoid the increasingly thorough government searches. It is unlikely that a boat from Benbecula would sail south of

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

to travel to

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

Origin

The lyrics were written by Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet, to Ross's song collected in the 1870s by Anne Campbell MacLeod (1855–1921), who became Lady Wilson by marriage to Sir James Wilson, KSCI (1853–1926), in 1888. The song was first published by Boulton and MacLeod, London, in 1884, in ''Songs of the North'', a book that went into at least twenty editions. In later editions, MacLeod's name was dropped and the ascription "Old Highland rowing measure arranged by Malcolm Lawson" was substituted. It was quickly taken up by other compilers, such as

Laura Alexandrine Smith Laura Alexandrine Smith (1861–1902) was an English musician, ethnomusicologist and one of the earliest collectors of sea shanties. Smith's ''The Music of the Waters'', published in 1888, was possibly the first collection of sea shanties to inc ...

's ''Music of the Waters'' (published 1888). Lawson was the elder brother of artist Cecil Gordon Lawson. The song is set in the style of a '' iorram'', a Gaelic rowing song. According to Andrew Kuntz, a collector of folk music lore, MacLeod was on a trip to the isle of Skye and was being rowed over

Loch Coruisk Loch Coruisk (, meaning the "Cauldron of Waters") is an inland fresh-water loch, lying at the foot of the Black Cuillin in the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands. Loch Coruisk is reputed to be the home of a kelpie or water horse, a shape-sh ...

(, the "Cauldron of Waters") when the rowers broke into a Gaelic rowing song "" ("The Cuckoo in the Grove"). MacLeod set down what she remembered of the air, with the intention of using it in a book she was to co-author with Boulton, who later added the section with the Jacobite associations. "As a piece of modern romantic literature with traditional links it succeeded perhaps too well, for soon people began 'remembering' they had learned the song in their childhood, and that the words were 'old Gaelic lines'," Andrew Kuntz has observed. The song was not in any older books of Scottish songs, though it is in most collections like ''The Fireside Book of Folk Songs''. It is often sung as a

lullaby A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural knowl ...

, in a slow rocking

6/8 time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

Recording history and covers

It was extremely popular in its day and, from its first recording by Tom Bryce on 29 April 1899, it became a standard among Scottish folk and dance musicians. From the 1960s onwards, it became even more widely known and has remained popular in mainstream music genres. The song was also used in the British

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

film, ''Above Us The Waves'' (1955), with

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

James Robertson Justice James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He often portrayed pompous authority figures in comedies, including each of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in seve ...

and

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. Gregson w ...

. The film was based on the attack by British

midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...

s (

human torpedo Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use. ...

es) on the German battleship

Tirpitz Tirpitz may refer to: People * Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930), German admiral ** Tirpitz Plan, a plan for Germany to achieve world power status through naval power Ships * German battleship ''Tirpitz'', a World War II-era Bismarck-class ...

in a Norwegian fjord during the war.

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as o ...

originally included the song, titled as "Over the Sea to Skye", in his arrangements of ''Four Songs from the British Isles'' for unaccompanied four-part chorus in 1957, commissioned by North West German Radio, Bremen, for a festival of European folk song. The amateur choir for which they were intended found the songs too difficult, and the first performance took place in July 1958, given by the London Bach Group, conducted by John Minchinton, at Royaumont in France. Tippett's ''Selected Letters'' states that he proposed to replace "Over the Sea to Skye" because it was "too strictly held by a publisher here".

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...

recorded a version for his album ''Western Wind'' in 1958, together with

Desmond Dupré Desmond John Dupré (19 December 1916, London – 16 August 1974, Tonbridge, Kent) was an English lutenist, guitarist, gambist and a prominent figure in the 20th century revival of early music. He was known particularly for his recordings on lut ...

on guitar and John Sothcott on

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

. It was performed to great acclaim and recorded by artist and social activist

in 1959 and 1960. Welshman

recorded a version, arranged by Lee Lawson and Harold Boulton, on his 1965 debut album '' Along Came Jones''. The same album, released in the U.S. as ''It's Not Unusual'', which included only 12 of the original 16 tracks, gave no attribution for the arrangement but did characterise the song as "Trad.—2:57."

Esther & Abi Ofarim Esther & Abi Ofarim were an Israeli musical duo active during the 1960s, consisting of husband and wife Abi Ofarim and Esther Ofarim. They enjoyed particular success in Germany. They had hits in Europe with their songs "One More Dance," "Morning ...

recorded the song under the title "Bonnie Boat" for their album ''Das Neue Esther & Abi Ofarim Album'' (1966).

''Doctor Who''

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

, as the

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...

on the British science-fiction television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', played the song repeatedly on his recorder in episode 6, scene 10 of "

The Web of Fear ''The Web of Fear'' is the partly missing fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968. The serial is set on the London Und ...

" (broadcast 9 March 1968).

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. After a screen Breakthrough role, breakthrough portraying Eric Effiong in Sex Education (TV series), ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023), he rose to further prominence as the ...

, as the

Fifteenth Doctor The Fifteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa in two series and two specials. Within the series' narr ...

, sings the songs to calm himself while standing on a land mine, in episode 3 of series 14, " Boom" (broadcast 18 May 2024).

Hits Down Under

Among later renditions that became well known were Peter Nelson and The Castaways from New Zealand, who released a version in 1966, as did

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n artist Glen Ingram. Both versions were in the Australian hit parade in 1966. A tough garage rock version of the song by a New Guinean band, The Stalemates, was included on the Viking Records compilation ''The New Guinea Scene'' in 1969.

1970s

Calum Kennedy Calum Kennedy (born as Malcolm Martin Kennedy; June 2, 1928 – April 15, 2006) was a Scotland, Scottish singer who performed in both English language, English and Scottish Gaelic. Biography Kennedy was born in Orinsay, a small crofting village ...

included a version on ''Songs of Scotland and Ireland'' (Beltona 1971), and

recorded two versions of the song with The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band during the sessions for ''

Atlantic Crossing ''Atlantic Crossing'' is the sixth solo album by Rod Stewart. Released on 15 August 1975, and recorded in five American studios including Muscle Shoals, Alabama, between April and June 1975, it was produced by Tom Dowd, and peaked at number o ...

'' between 1974 and 1975. They were given an official release on the deluxe re-release of the album in 2009.

After 1980

"The Skye Boat Song" can be heard at the beginning of "Who Stole the Bagpipes", the second episode in season one of the early 1980s British cartoon '' Dangermouse''. It can also be heard in "Tomorrow Night" by the New Zealand musical theatre duo

The Front Lawn The Front Lawn was a New Zealand musical/theatrical duo founded by Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair in 1985. In 1989 and 1990, they were joined by actor Jennifer Ward-Lealand. The Front Lawn were known for their live performances, and toured e ...

on their 1989 album Songs from the Front Lawn.

's duet version with

Des O'Connor Desmond Bernard O'Connor (12 January 1932 – 14 November 2020) was an English comedian, singer and television presenter. He was a long-time TV chat-show host, beginning with '' The Des O'Connor Show'' in 1963, which ran for ten years as we ...

, released in 1986, made the UK top 10; it combined O'Connor's vocals with Whittaker's whistling version, a part of his repertoire since at least the mid-1970s. The track was recorded at London's

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

Lansdowne Studios (now a high-end residential underground property) with session drummer Peter Boita along with all the high-profile studio session players of the day. The cellist

Julian Lloyd Webber Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme. Early years and education Julia ...

recorded an instrumental version of the song in 1986 on the album '' Encore!''. In the 1987 horror movie, '' It's Alive III: Island of the Alive'', the main character played by

Michael Moriarty Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is an American-Canadian actor. He received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his role as a Nazi SS officer in the 1978 miniseries ''Holocaust'' and a Tony Award in 1974 for his performance in the ...

sings the song on board a boat with crew members at 46 mins 17 secs.

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

played an instrumental version of the song on their 1987 album ''Simply Shadows''. Singer

covered the song as part of a song trilogy entitled "Etienne Trilogy" on her debut album ''

Y Kant Tori Read Y Kant Tori Read was an American synth-pop band fronted by singer-songwriter Tori Amos and active between 1984 and 1989. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Amos, guitarist Steve Caton, drummer Matt Sorum (later of Guns ...

'' (1988).

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...

and The Chieftains recorded an instrumental version (which was used as background music for a

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

commercial) in February 1990 at

Studios 301 Studios 301 is an Australian recording studio and is both the longest-running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere and the largest studio complex in Australia. History The studio was founded in 1926 under the Columbia Grap ...

, Sydney, Australia, released on the album ''Over the Sea to Skye – The Celtic Connection''. There is also a version on

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne contin ...

''In Concert / Scottish Love Songs'' album (track 19). Galway plays the instrumental version on episode 1957 of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', originally aired in 1984.

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan John Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier, appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2003), ''Melancholia' ...

's character plays this song on the cello in the 1992 film ''

Wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

''. Canadian Punk band

The Real McKenzies The Real McKenzies is a Canadian Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are considered the founders of the Canadian Celtic punk movement, and were one of the first Celtic punk bands, albeit 10 years af ...

covered this song on their 1995 debut album ''

''.

21st century

The music can be heard in Season 3, episode 12 of ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'' entitled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" before the first wedding of

Charlotte York Charlotte York (later Charlotte York MacDougal and Charlotte York Goldenblatt) is a fictional character in the ''Sex and the City'' media franchise. She is one of the four central characters in the HBO television series ''Sex and the City'', its ...

to Trey McDougal. Scottish singer

Barbara Dickson Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include " I Know Him So Well" (a chart-topping duet with Elaine Paige), " Answer Me" and " January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK ...

recorded the song in 2006, and

Marc Gunn Marc Andrew Gunn (born March 17, 1972) is an American musician and podcaster. Gunn rose to prominence as the autoharp-playing half of the Brobdingnagian Bards. He and partner Andrew McKee developed a following with weekly performances on the c ...

included it on his 2013 album ''Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion''.

Bear McCreary Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American composer of film, television, and video game scores. His work includes the scores of the television series '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', '' Black Sails'', '' ...

adapted the song as the opening titles of the 2014 TV series '' Outlander'', sung by Raya Yarbrough, changing the text of

's poem "Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone" (1892) to "

Lass Lass may refer to: *A girl/young woman in Scottish/Northern English People Surname * August Lass (1903–1962), Estonian footballer * Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass (1940–1995), Polish actress *Donna Lass (1944–' 1970), possible victim of the Zodi ...

" to fit the story. In season 7, the opening is sung by

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

. It can also be heard as background instrumental music in several episodes of the American serial killer television series ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...

''.

Peter Hollens Peter James Hollens is an American singer-songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. He has been involved with a cappella music since 1999 when he and Leo da Silva founded the University of Oregon's a cappella group, On The Rocks, known as the firs ...

recorded an

a capella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

cover of the song for the 2018 album ''Legendary Folk songs''. It's sung by the character Claire Louise McLeod (played by

Lisa Chappell Lisa Irene Chappell (born 18 October 1968) is a New Zealand actress and musician. She is known for her roles as Chelsea Redfern in '' Gloss'' (1987–1990), and as Claire McLeod in '' McLeod's Daughters'' (2001–2003), a performance which earn ...

) on season 1, episode 5, "Taking the Reins" of the Australian TV series ''

McLeod's Daughters ''McLeod's Daughters'' is an Australian drama television series created by Posie Graeme-Evans and Caroline Stanton for the Nine Network, which aired from 8 August 2001, to 31 January 2009, lasting eight seasons. It stars Lisa Chappell and ...

''. George Donaldson of

Celtic Thunder Celtic Thunder is an Irish singing group and stage show known for its eclectic, theatrical style show. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic set pieces ( ...

sang it in the 2015 show "Heritage" (arr. Phil Coulter) and on the CD and DVD of the same name. Celtic Thunder Limited. USA Sony Music Entertainment. The Choral Scholars of

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

recorded an arrangement by their artistic director Desmond Earley for their 2015 album ''Invisible Stars: Choral Works of Ireland and Scotland'' The song was played by pipers as the coffin of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II travelled up the Long Walk to Windsor Castle on 19 September 2022. Media comment included speculation that this was to 'put to rest' the conflict between the Jacobite and Hannoverian houses. The song reappears in ''

'' in the episode "

The Power of the Doctor "The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final story of Doctor Who specials (2022), three special episodes that follow the Doctor Who series 13, thirteenth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The episode ...

" in October 2022, played by the Master on the recorder, which in-universe is supposed to be the same recorder that the

used. The song reappears again in ''Doctor Who'' in the episode " Boom" in May 2024, sung by the

Lyrics and melody

\relative c' \addlyrics

Original lyrics

''Chorus:Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing, Onward! the sailors cry; Carry the lad that's born to be king Over the sea to

. 1. Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar, Thunderclaps rend the air; Baffled, our foes stand by the shore, Follow they will not dare. ''Chorus 2. Many's the lad, fought on that day Well the

claymore A claymore (; from , "great sword") is either the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword or the Scottish variant of the basket-hilted sword. The former is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward-sloping quillons with ...

did wield; When the night came, silently lay Dead on Culloden's field. ''Chorus 3. Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep, Ocean's a royal bed. Rocked in the deep,

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

will keep Watch by your weary head. ''Chorus 4. Burned are their homes, exile and death Scatter the loyal men; Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath Charlie will come again.

Stevenson's poem

's 1892 poem, which has been sung to the tune, has the following text: ''Chorus: Sing me a song of a lad that is gone, Say, could that lad be I? Merry of soul he sailed on a day Over the sea to Skye. 1.

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica * Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highwa ...

was astern,

on the port,

Eigg Eigg ( ; ) is one of the Small Isles in the Scotland, Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the island of Isle of Skye, Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With ...

on the starboard bow; Glory of youth glowed in his soul; Where is that glory now?

horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

'' 2. Give me again all that was there, Give me the sun that shone! Give me the eyes, give me the soul, Give me the lad that's gone!

'' 3. Billow and breeze, islands and seas, Mountains of rain and sun, All that was good, all that was fair, All that was me is gone.

Other versions

There has also been a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

adaptation of the tune, known as "Spirit of God Unseen as the Wind"; some of the lyrics vary. "The Skye Boat Song" has been parodied in song by

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Sa ...

and

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School ...

on their comedy series ''

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is al ...

''.

References

External links

Covers of "The Skye Boat Song"
poparchives.com.au

by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in the collection ''Songs of Travel and Other Verses'', Project Gutenberg
Sir Michael Tippett – Over the Sea to Skye
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skye Boat Song 1884 songs Jacobite songs Scottish songs Charles Edward Stuart Poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson