Road to the Isles, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer hears "a far croonin'" calling him back to the Hebrides. He lists the places he will visit on his way home, and says, "If it's thinkin' in your inner heart the braggart's in my step, You've never smelt the tangle o' the Isles."
AUTHOR: Words: Kenneth Macleod
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Kennedy-Fraser/MacLeod-SongsOfTheHebrides)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad travel
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Kennedy-Fraser/MacLeod-SongsOfTheHebrides II, pp. 240-241, "The Road to the Isles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cox-FolkMusicInANewfoundlandOutport,p. 59, "(The Road to the Isles)" (1 fragment, a fiddler's mnemonic for a tune called "The Road to the Isles," presumably this although the tune is not transcribed)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 282, "The Road to the Isles" (notes only)
DT, RDISLES*
SAME TUNE:
Beneath the Barber Pole (File:Hopk034)
The Gallant Sixty-Two (File: WJL232)
The Far Northland (The Border Trail) (File: ACSF282F)
NOTES [71 words]: On its face, this is just another pseudo-folksong by Kenneth Macleod to a Hebridean tune, but my father seems to have learned it orally. I suppose it was from some radio program, but who can tell? When in doubt, we index -- and add apologetic notes like these. It was at least well enough known that a Canadian in World War II used it as the tune for "Beneath the Barber Pole," and Averill found camps that sang a parody. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: KFrII240

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