Fear A Bhata (The Boatman)

©Trad. Hebrides

        I learned this as a child from my Aunt Beanto, who later taught it to Ann. It is a translation of a Gaelic song from the Hebrides, and even the surviving Gaelic in the chorus has suffered some grammatic misfortunes over the years. Thanks to Jean Redpath for additional words, and thanks to the various people who have, at one time or another, sent me their written versions of the song. This version is a compilation of all of the above. (GB) The chorus, as translated by Lachlan MacBean in Alfred Moffat's The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Highlands, may be sung:

O, my boatman,
na horo aila;
O, my boatman,
na horo aila;
O, my boatman,
na horo aila,
May joy await thee,
where'er thou sailest. (SP)

Fear a' bhata, na horo aila,
Fear a' bhata, na horo aila,
Fear a' bhata, na horo aila,
Mo shoraidh slan dhuit's gach
ait a teid -thu.

Forever haunting the highest hilltop,
I scan the ocean, thy sails to see.
Wilt come tonight, love, wilt come tomorrow,
Wilt ever come, love, to comfort me?

They call you fickle, they call you false-one;
They seek to change me, but all in vain,
For thou art with me throughout the dark night,
And every morning I watch the main.

There's not a hamlet but well I know it
Where you go walking or stay awhile,
And all the old folk you win with talking,
And charm its maidens with song and smile.

From passing boatmen I would discover
If they had heard of or seen my lover.
I'm never answered; I'm only chided
And told my heart has been sore misguided.

(chorus sung twice at end)

Fear A Bhata is recorded on the CD All Shall Be Well Again