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MINGULAY BOAT SONG
Traditional (as sung by Hugh MacDonald)

Heil ya Ho boys,
Let her go boys,
Swing her head round and all together,
Heil ya Ho boys, Let her go boys,
Sailing homeward to Mingulay.

What care we though white the Minch is,
What care we for wind or weather?
Heil ya Ho boys, and we'll anchor,
As the sun sets on Mingulay.

Heil ya Ho boys,
Let her go boys,
Swing her head round and all together,
Heil ya Ho boys, Let her go boys,
Sailing homeward to Mingulay.

Wives are waiting by the quayside,
They've been waiting since break o' day boys,
They are waiting for their loved ones,
As the sun sets on Mingulay.

Heil ya Ho boys,
Let her go boys,
Swing her head round and all together,
Heil ya Ho boys, Let her go boys,
Sailing homeward to Mingulay.

Once owned by the MacNeil's of Barra, the island of Mingulay is the largest of the small group of islands in the Outer Hebrides known as the Bishop's Isles. There are 800 feet high cliffs at the southern tip of this island with stacks mentioned in some references. The island is quite small being 1 mile by 2 miles in extent.  The island’s population peaked at 150 in 1881, but by 1912 Mingulay was deserted except for colonies of sea birds (guillemots, kittiwakes and puffins) nesting on the crags of dramatic sea cliffs.
 

 


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