We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Cape Breton

from Land and Sea (2017) by Bob Leslie

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £0.50 GBP  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Cape Breton, Ontario, and North Carolina were the three main points of settlement by those deported during the Highland Clearances, and those who fled the subsequent poverty and evictions. Stories like the one I tell in the song were, unfortunately, all too common. Note: a tacksman was the landlord's agent on a Highland estate.

lyrics

Making a cover to go on a cradle
Mairi sits quiet, her hands never still
She is a weaver, most skilful and able
While John works their wee bit of
Land with a will

But the tacksman has told them
He'll soon be away
And he's warned that they've
Less than a year
For the Laird down in London needs
Money to play with
Tae sup wi’ his English compeers

Cape Breton, Ontario, or North Carolina
The reason you're sent there is clear
The Laird down in London needs
Money to play with
Tae sup wi’ his English compeers

Oh, John he just laughs
And he dries Mairi's tears
For the Marquess would ne'er hurt
His kinfolk, his clan
But he knows that his chieftain's
Not been here for years
People say that the city
Wreaks change in a man

When the baby arrives
He quiets his doubt
And toils that they all may be fed
Comes the news that the folk
Down the coast were burnt out
And they look at each other in dread

Came factor and agents,
Impatient and rough,
When John made to fight them,
They clubbed him right down
The last Mairi saw of the
House where she'd loved
Was the smoke and the flames
As it burned to the ground

Herded like beasts
They were forced on a ship
That the Marquess most generously paid
So he could turn over his acres to sheep
By transporting his kinfolk away

The barrels of water
They drank from were clouded
And soon there was sickness
Amongst young and old
Six days out of port,
Her small body shrouded
John lowered their child
To the dark and the cold

Now fair is the place
They have here by the sea
And they've built a good life it is clear
But however rich
This New World lets them be
The price that they paid
Was too dear

credits

from Land and Sea (2017), released August 1, 2017

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bob Leslie image

Bob Leslie Glasgow, UK

Bob Leslie's music is now available on a "NAME YOUR OWN PRICE" basis!
****************
“I can think of no other songwriter who has mined this rich vein
with such lyrical ease and with no mean ear for melody. ”
Alan Reid, Battlefield Band ... more

contact / help

Contact Bob Leslie

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Bob Leslie, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now