Christmas At Sea

(album: If On A Winter's Night... - 2009)

All day we fought the tides between the North Head and the South
All day we hauled the frozen sheets to escape the storm's wet mouth
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head

[A fragment of "Thograinn Thograinn" in Gaelic:]
Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò
Hì iù o thograinn falbh

Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard
We saw the cliffs and houses and the breakers running high
And the coastguard in his garden, his glass against his eye

[Gaelic:]
Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam
The good red fires were burning bright in every long-shore home
The windows sparkled clear and the chimneys volleyed out
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about

[Gaelic:]
Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer
For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn
And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born

[Gaelic:]
Thograinn, thograinn bhith dol dhachaigh
E hò rò, e hò rò
Gu Sgoirebreac a' chruidh chaisfhinn
E hù hì rì il iù ò
Hì iù o thograinn falbh

Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò
Hì iù o thograinn falbh

And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea
And, oh, the wicked fool I seemed in every kind of way
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day

[Gaelic:]
Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò
Hì iù o thograinn falbh

Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò
Hì iù o thograinn falbh

Gu Sgoirebreac a chruidh chaisfhinn
E hò rò, e hò rò
Ceud soraidh bhuam mar bu dual dhomh
E hù hì rì il iù ò
Hì iù o thograinn falbh