Oh my Donal he works on the
sea
With the waves blowing wild
and free
He splices the rope and sets
the sail
Now he is awa' to the home of
the whale.
Oh he ne'r thinks of me far
behind
O' the torments that rage in
my mind
He's mine for only half part
o' the year
Then I'm left all alone with
nought but a tear.
Oh guid ladies who smell the
wild rose
Think ye for your perfume to
where a man goes
Think you o' the wives and
bairnies so young
'Cause their man ne'r returned
from hunting the Sperm.
Oh my Donal he works on the
sea
With the waves blowing wild
and free
He splices the rope and sets
the sail
Now he is awa' to the home of
the whale.
Footnote : The death on 16 February 2003 has robbed Scotland of yet
another major figure of the Scottish Folk Revival, Edinburgh's Owen Hand.
Born in Edinburgh on 28 December 1938, Owen Hand was a man of many parts.
He began work at 15 in the pits, enjoyed success as an amateur boxer,
sailed on whaling and merchant ships, and lumberjacked in Canada. During
his National service he first picked up the guitar and back home in
Edinburgh took part in the Folk Revival, making his solo debut on the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1962. Recording fame followed and he became a
regular on the expanding folk circuit. He proudly graduated in 1993 as MA
with Honours from Edinburgh University in Scottish Ethnology with a thesis
entitled 'The political influences behind the folk song revival in Britain
c1950s-1960s'. 'My Donal' came from his whaling days and is still a
popular song among his successors in the folk tradition.
