SKYE BOAT SONG

 [traditional]

Speed bonny boat

Like a bird on the wing

"Onward" the sailors cry,

Carry the lad that's born to be king

Over the sea to Skye.

Loud the winds howl,

Loud the waves roar,

Thunder claps rend the air.

Baffled our foes stand by the shore.

Follow they will not dare.

Chorus

Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep

The ocean's a royal bed.

Rocked on the deep, Flora will keep

Watch by your weary head.

Many's the lad fought on that day,

Well the claymore could wield,

When the night came silently lay

Dead on Culloden's field.

Burnt are our homes:

Exile and death

Scatter the loyal men

Yet ere the sword cools in it's sheath

Charlie will come again.

MANCHESTER RAMBLER

I'm a rambler, I'n a rambler from Manchester way;

I get all my pleasure the hard walking way.

I may be a wage slave on Monday,

But I am a free man on Sunday.

I've been over Snowdon, I've camped up on Crowden

And slept by the Wainstones as well.

I've sunbathed on Kinder, been burnt to a cinder

And many more things I can tell.

My rucksack has oft been my pillow,

The heather has oft been my bed,

And sooner than part from the mountains

I think I would rather be dead.

 I'm a rambler etc

The day was just ending as I was descending

By Bridesbrook just by by Upper Tor

When a voice said, "Hey, you!" in the way keepers do;

He'd the worst face that I ever saw.

The tone of his voice was unfriendly;

In the teeth of his fury I said,

That sooner than part from the mountains

I think I would rather be dead.

 I'm a rambler etc

Well, he called me a louse, said, "Think of the grouse."

I thought but just couldn't see

Why old Kinder Scout and these Moors round about

Couldn't take both the poor grouse and me.

He said,"All this land is my master's",

But at that I stood shaking my head.

No man has the right to own mountains

Any more than the deep ocean bed.

 I'm a rambler etc

I once courted a maid, a spot welder by trade;

She was fair as the rowan in bloom,

And the blue of her eyes matched the blue moorland skies

And I loved her from April to June.

On the dat that we should have been married

I went for a ramble instead,

For sooner than part from the mountains

I think I would rather be dead.

 I'm a rambler etc

Now I go where I will over valley and hill,

And I lie where the bracken is deep.

I belong to the mountains, those pure crystal fountains

Where the rocks they are rugged and steep;

I've seen the white hare in the heather

And the curlew fly high overhead,

And sooner than part from the mountains

I think I would rather be dead.

 I'm a rambler etc

A WORLD OF OUR OWN

Close the door, light the light;

We're staying home tonight,

Far away from the bustle

And the bright city lights.

Letr them all fade away,

Just leave us alone,

And we'll live in a world of our own.

We'll build a world of our own

That no one else can share;

All our sorrows we'll leave

Far behind us there.

And I know we shall find

There'll be peace of mind

When we live in a world of our own.

Oh my love, oh my love,

I cry for you so much.

Lonely nights without sleeping

While I long for your touch.

Now your lips can erase

The heartache I've known.

Come with me to a world of our own.

WIDDICOMBE FAIR [traditional]

Tom Pearse, Tom Pearse, lend me your grey mare

All along, down along, out along lee

For I want for to go to Widdicombe Fair

With Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney

Peter Day, Daniel Whiddon, Harry Hawk

Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all

Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all.

And when shall I see again my grey mare?

All along, down along, out along lee

By Friday soon, or Saturday noon

With Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney

Peter Day, Daniel Whiddon, Harry Hawk

Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all

Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all.

Then Friday came and Saturday noon

All along, down along, out along lee

But Tom Pearse's mare has not trotted home.

With Bill Brewer etc.

So Tom Pearse he got up to the top of the hill

All along, down along, out along lee

He see'd his old mare down a-making her will.

With Bill Brewer etc.

So Tom Pearce's old mare, she took sick and died

All along, down along, out along lee

And Tom, he sat down on a stone and he cried.

With Bill Brewer etc.

But this isn't the end of this shocking affair

All along, down along, out along lee

Nor though they be dead of the horrid career.

With Bill Brewer etc.

When the wind whistles cold on the moor of a night

All along, down along, out along lee

Tom Pearse's old mare doth appear ghastly white.

With Bill Brewer etc.

And all the long night be heard skirling and groans

All along, down along, out along lee

From Tom Pearse's old mare and a rattling of bones.

With Bill Brewer etc.

 WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN SCHOOL TODAY

by Pete Seager. If you like the words please buy his records. Many of the songs are brilliant for teaching English - this one, for instance for simple past question and answer forms.

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that Washington never told a lie.

I learned that soldiers never die.

I learned that everybody's free,

And that's what the teacher said to me.Chorus

That's what I learned in school today,

That's what I learned in school.

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that policemen are my friends.

I learned that justice never ends.

I learned that murderers die for their crimes

Even if we make a mistake sometimes.

Chorus

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that Government must be strong;

It's always right and never wrong;

Our leaders are the finest men

And we elect them again and again.

Chorus

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that war is not so bad;

I learned about the great ones we have had;

We fought in Germany and in France

And someday I might get my chance.

Chorus

TURN, TURN

Pete Seeger

CD: Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits - Really worth buying even if you are not learning English

Words adapted from The Bible, Book of Ecclesiastes

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal

A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down

A time to dance, a time to mourn

A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate

A time of war, a time of peace

A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose

A time to rend, a time to sew

A time to love, a time to hate

A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

The next one is by Jeremy Taylor. He wrote many thoroughly conversational songs, wonderful for painless learning of the language. Seek out recordings. They are worth it. They are wonderful for teaching conversational English. You could lift practically any line straight into a conversation.

I am grateful to Alan Chattoway for the correct layout of this one.