Dheanainn Sùgradh

I Would Frolic
This is a traditional Scottish 'waulking' song (òran-luadhaidh) arranged by Clannad. It appears on their second album more...

This is a traditional Scottish ‘waulking’ song (òran-luadhaidh) arranged by Clannad. It appears on their second album called Clannad 2, released in 1975.

MacEdward Leach:

Waulking was a method of fulling newly woven cloth, shrinking the nap so that the cloth might be warmer when made into clothing or blankets. As many as twelve men and women might sit around the table and with their hands, beat the cloth to the rhythm of a song.  Although the structure of milling songs may vary, as well as styles of beating the cloth and participation, one aspect remains constant and serves as a defining characteristic of the genre, that is the solo presentation of the verses and group participation in the chorus. This chorus is often comprised of two to four lines of vocables, another defining feature of the milling genre.

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Irish

English

Chorus (after each verse):
I'd have fun with the dark-haired maiden
And rise early in the morning
I'd have fun with the dark-haired maiden

I'd have fun with the lass
While the world would be sleeping

I played when we woke
And when the sails were unfurled

On Monday, after Sunday
We left the Orkneys on the Seonaid

Blue sea was running under the stubble
And sending torrents from the bottom of the abyss

A reef being tied and a reef being loosened
The sea at her back noisy and whistling

There about the Strait of Rome
We needed to lash the boom

There about the Strait of France
The stick was in the hand and the wind was driving

Oh there will be ropes that do not need splicing
On my maiden coming home

You would need a portion coming from her shop
Although it was a crown a quarter

Although it would be a crown an inch
You would need a portion of it coming home

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Chords

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