The Mingulay Boat Song

Harbottle and Jonas give a stunning performance of The Mingulay Boat Song live at Folk@thecornerHOUSE.
#folk #folksong #harbottleandjonas #mingulay #traditional

[@margmckay3257]

I learned this song at primary schools and I am 80 years of age I often sing sing today👏🥳🧤

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@blahblahblah85]

I still play it. I'm 70. Lovely . Well done..

[@kais.7075]

I am learning it now at age 37. My son, age 4, loves it. It will be passed on :)

[@cosh5]

I learned it at primary school in the 1970s.

[@douglasherron7534]

@@cosh5 Same here, along with many other traditional Scots folk tunes. No doubt this has been binned by the SNP in their drive for "diversity" and so they can spend the time asking primary school kids about their sex lives and gender identity!

[@michaelbird3887]

I believe this is one of the few remaining "boat-pulling" songs, giving the rhythm to the oarsmen ....

[@lyndoherty909]

Delightful! Lovely to hear young people continuing traditional folk music.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Folk music is in our blood! X

[@andycope5601]

Yep, definitely a great rendition of a Scots classic! Beautiful voice and harmony. Simple but effective.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Andy!

[@pamelahay6242]

Lovely traditional song first heard 50 years ago but not much in recent decades. Almost a hymn when sung together by a singing audience. Thank you.

[@cardbuddy4988]

This listener across the ocean has no idea what a Minch is, but what a beautiful song. Beautifully sung by you both.

[@douglasscott7614]

The Minches are a couple of straits between the Hebrides and Scotland! There's a big one and a small one

[@duncanallaire2392]

this wrenched tears out of me after many long years of not being able to cry. thank you.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Wow! Thank you for sharing x

[@samurguybriyongtan146]

Bless you, Duncan. May they flow freely and more often for the sake of your tender heart.

[@timh3561]

Ya takin the michael

[@alancrabb]

And that is how just two people can fill a hall with glorious sound : wonderful musicianship.

[@philipgrier9376]

Wonderful. We were taught to sing this in school in the 1950's. Great to hear it again

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Cheers Philip!

[@monkeynuts1806]

Same here - we had a weekly singing lesson in the 1950's, and this is one of the many songs we were taught. This brought back memories - and a few tears

[@derpiper25]

Absolutely hypnotic - such a beautiful tune performed perfectly!! Thank you so much.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you so much!!

[@scotslassie6991]

Nice version thanks love from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ❤

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@markperkins9437]

Makes me wish I was Scottish!

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I'd almost forgotten this song. We learned it in UK primary school in the late 1950s, with our teacher "Polly" Roden.

[@oldbikerbear]

My God this is beautiful. The song and the voices.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Wow! Thank you x

[@davidcwilson1395]

Yes I agreee !!!!!

[@jasonscott8323]

Oh my. What a gem of a song. Never heard this till now and I’m hooked. Such a vibe from it. Feeling very emotional listening. Thank you 💗

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Wow, thank you Jason x

[@pauly2847]

I used to listen to this sung by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem . Brings a tear to the eye.

[@CedarAshCanvas]

Had this on semi-repeat for a few days while I split wood for next winter. Thank-you much for the harmonies and musicianship. Northern Ontario. Really lovely.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Wow! Thank you so much x

[@terrynpiper7667]

I have been playing this tune on my Northumbrian Small pipes for years but this is the first time I have heard it sung. I now realise that I have been playing it too fast. Thank you.

[@robertlonergan9401]

I have been aware of this song for a long time as I heard it sung a capella in a pub in Dingle, Kerry,Ireland. Four piece vocals to die for, but this is right up there! Thanks.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

I think we play it slow to be fair!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

@@robertlonergan9401 Very kind of you!

[@robertlonergan9401]

This is true as a lot of shanties and related songs were used as a way of getting the crew working in unison and developing a bond through song.

[@Doug-xt7bn]

This is much slower than I’ve ever heard it played or sung although it’s beautiful and so mournful like this. When played faster it has a different kind of energy and feeling. Sends a shiver down my spine whichever way it’s played

[@tribulationcoming]

Because someone is willing to bring, to carry, to transport, to conceal such tradition until it is time to show what past is. Truly a beautiful exposition, as a circle unbroken.

[@johnlewis8664]

I was lucky enough to go to Mingulay when I was younger. Beautiful island and a beautiful song.

[@Lamprolign]

I've been on the sea in a small craft in stormy weather many times and this song has seen me home.

[@jimajello1028]

My Great Grandfather was a sea Captain in the 1800's. He would have loved this if written during his time period. However, my Dad used to play this song on mandolin with his Dad. The Sea was in their blood because they both were Steamship Brokers. Well done! Thank you.👍

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you for sharing your story Jim!

[@NiallMS1]

Distant Mingulay, deserted by its people in 1912 and now a bird sanctuary!

[@judypountney9648]

This literally took my breath away! I realized I was so mesmerized that I was holding my breath. This is absolutely beautiful.

[@georgezink8256]

First time I’ve ever heard this person singing

[@darknevangelist]

I love this song. I didnt know it was Scottish though, so thanks for that info.

[@almac2598]

The clue is in the title - Mingulay.

[@RobertPalomoMusic]

Lovely concertina!

[@peterrandall9523]

Beautiful song, sung beautifully. Takes me back to when I first heard this, a lifetime ago now. Gorgeous 👏👏👏

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Peter! ❤

[@patrickdaly5068]

This is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. As some others indicated, the performance is absolutely mesmerizing. There’s so much feeling in the vocals and the tune itself. Thank you so much.

[@jimchastain6840]

Beautiful rendition of this classic song! You guys nailed it!! Please post the lyrics so new people can sing along! You sound amazing! Keep posting songs!!!

[@johnmitchell1614]

You'll find the words if you look online. I did. Best regards. 🙃

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Jim! www.youtube.com/@HarbottleAndJonas

[@user-dz4tr9oj9b]

Wikipedia gives both the original lyrics which they use here, as well as more recent versions which are more nautically accurate. A beautiful song.

[@AngusBrown-hv3zn]

One of my dad's l miss dad singing he would have loved this we could have had a wee sing along

[@antoine010101]

Thanks so much. I love you both, your music sound Amazing to me. I coved it strait away for busking me singing and my accordion ... Send you much love from France. So good vibes in Scotland.. one day a gonna sail to visit you.

[@kevinmcnamee6006]

It's a great song. Excellent performance of it. Thanks...

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you very much!

[@candsoshea3566]

Makes us proud of our fathers who chanced the seas and our mothers who waited at the key side. Ha celts ah

[@georgesteadwood7845]

Fantastic rendition of a beautiful piece

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you George!

[@pierreconreaux4086]

Je vois Madame que dans votre voix , il y a une simplicité qui me touche. No more lynchage but a one celtic mélodie that's mean liberty! No more black and white , only multicolore slainte I love. your musique ..

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@JamesRattray]

Wow that was so powerful. Harbottle (is that her name) was so elegant, a really great introduction. Love the fact you live in the south, as with the song being sung in the south, I too have left Scotland after 50 years. Thank you.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Cheers James!

[@mikesanderson5940]

Absolutely lovely!

[@georgezink8256]

Awesome thanks for sharing beautiful folk music

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you!

[@johnrodgers6250]

Absolutely loved it! Thank you so much for posting

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Cheers John!

[@pdxyadayada]

A favorite sea song for decades..nicely done!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Cheers Chris

[@anthonywhitmarsh3032]

Can almost feel I'm at sea on slow rolling waves! Great song that I learnt at primary school.

[@billmac57]

Beautiful rendition of a traditional song, just a few weeks ago I learned there is no harbour on Mingulay, you land on the beach or the rocks.

[@Bikergerbil]

Lovely, one of my faves.

[@morgan7023]

love this

[@dr.wianmeintjes9028]

Beautiful

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you!

[@brucecollins641]

grand version.

[@tonyclack5901]

Very nice, great harmony's .

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Cheers Tony!

[@michaelslack4937]

Hauntingly beautiful...thank you!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Michael!

[@michaelslack4937]

@@HarbottleAndJonas Thou art most welcome.

[@tdc1991x]

Beautiful performance. Brings back memories of my grandpa singing this to me while I sat on his knee as a wee boy. Always makes me slightly emotional.

[@ladymeghenderson9337]

My mum taught me this

[@jfrakers]

Beautiful harmonies!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@timh3561]

One of, if not the greatest, version ever.

[@vka82055]

Beautiful ❣ Such a pure, rich voice with nice harmony ~ thank you!

[@peterlarge8051]

I learnt this song over 60 years sgo and is one I sing in Gaelic so beutiful

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Would love to hear that!!

[@bonnieanne5483]

I was about to ask about the lyrics in Scots Gaidhlig. How would I find that, please! Tapadh leibh!

[@edwardfitzpatrick9004]

Very nice, well done.

[@mikejones8892]

Beautiful very atmospheric and captures the rhythm of a sailing ship.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Mike!

[@fredmoss3515]

Wonderful.

[@wyohusker]

Enjoyed the music while enjoying a dram of single malt.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

🥃 cheers!

[@martinplaysmartin]

I am fascinated... Listening to you again and again...

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Cheers Martin!

[@jeanrobinson705]

In fact it isn't a traditional Scottish folk song, it was written in 1936 by Sir Hugh Roberton, who also wrote "All in the April Evening".

[@maviedanslevent]

Wow. Thank you.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@jackdonnelly6119]

Just beautiful, utterly uplifting!

[@richnewman5478]

WONDERFUL!!!!

[@mattgowans5121]

Hi form Scotland

[@dianefarrell2343]

This is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!!❤

[@beckymccreary592]

Awesome. Thank you for sharing.

[@garyhaigh797]

This was by far the best i have ever listened to. Do you play live and if so can i buy some tickets amazing

[@johnboswell3583]

Beautiful.

[@SuperMikey001]

Beautiful rendition , Thank You

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Mike!! 😊

[@NSResponder]

Lovely.

[@eofolk7754]

Stunning

[@TheTomnewman]

lovely . . . .

[@roddymcniven8734]

Beautiful harmonies and song

[@unclephil440]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@johnhutchison2268]

One the Corries greats and beautiful sung here

[@rayhoward8188]

❤ WOW BRILLIANT 👏 EXCELLENT RAY TWELVE STRINGS.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤️

[@janicewhite1113]

love it

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you Janice x

[@davidcwilson1395]

Totally beautiful !!!!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@graceh2684]

Lovely. 💕

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

❤

[@paulboger7377]

Why have I only heard this now? ❤️🇦🇺

[@braithmiller]

Fine!

[@elizabeth10392]

Very pretty. ❤

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you!!

[@barbarakyle5663]

Love it! Go around the house singing it( not as well as the two on my screen! 3:26 😊

[@johnsinnott6179]

😊😊😊😊😊🎵

[@NotoriusMaximus]

Adequate!

[@davidgriffin7469]

Private Frazer came from Mingulay,

[@wildscotsman1]

He was claimed to be from Barra, near but not Mingulay.

[@Dunbardoddy]

Listed on Wikipedia are the lyrics of a few different versions - starting with the original lyrics :- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingulay_Boat_Song

[@gavinmackay]

According to my late father, a Leodhasach and native gaelic speaker, the original (gaelic) words sung to this tune were about hunting red deer - and nothing at all to do with boats or the sea.

[@robertwmarwin2018]

Listen to the “longest John’s”. Version

[@paulmitchell3877]

This is fantastic. Is the 2nd snappy piece also the Mingulay Boat Song?

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

The tune is ‘Hut on Staffin Island’ by Phil Cunningham

[@bushidodog]

Getting a real Gillian Welch/David Rawlings vibe, kids. That's a good thing ❤😊

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

@@bushidodog bloody hell, that’s a compliment and a half!

[@paulmitchell3877]

@@bushidodog I see what you mean

[@leighcecil3322]

. Many of the sea shantys are Scottish... when many Scottish lads where gang pressed.. onto to english ships after the Jacobite wars 😢..🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Lynnefromlyn]

Ya just had to get one in didnt ya? Typical!

[@bertspeggly4428]

What is that instrument? A cross between a mandolin and a Portuguese guitar! Sounds lovely.👍👍👌

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you! It’s a flat back cittern

[@1959Ginky]

Hauntingly beautiful, would appreciate knowing the name of these particular instruments, though I'm familiar with them, I've never actually learned their correct identity.

[@JayPhilips]

The stringed instrument is a cittern (see comment @HarbottleAndJonas to @bertspeggly4428 below) and Freya Jonas plays I think C/G 30-button Anglo concertina.

[@dizzywilliams3557]

Where does the drone come from? Is that a 5 course octave mandolin? Lovely sounds!!!

[@josiahwhitesell154]

The drone is a harmonium

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Harmonium! It is a cittern, thank you very much x

[@joeldcanfield_spinhead]

@@HarbottleAndJonas Ah, interesting. I've only seen (in my limited experience) 4-course citterns. Deadly! Since I know a chap can make me a workmanlike version of one, what would be the tuning on this one you're playing here? (Also, this is the only version I've ever heard of this sone since learning it from a Clancy Brothers album half a century ago; lovely.)

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

@@joeldcanfield_spinhead I think putting a bit of personality into a song is in the spirit of folk music. It’s funny how our ‘slow’ interpretation upsets some people! I tune it GDADA

[@joeldcanfield_spinhead]

@@HarbottleAndJonas I've always believed that if you don't bring something new or personal to a song, you haven't done it justice. Saw a California group called Leftover Cuties perform "You Are My Sunshine" which doesn't sound all that exciting, except the very first line made it clear they were doing it in a minor key-and it was perfect. Somehow, I'd never heard it done that way before, and suddenly it wasn't just a song to sing to babies anymore.

[@janicejugla959]

Not sung in the same notes as I learned as a child . Worth listening to other versions

[@stiggibson4194]

@janicejugla959 Such a shame to botch up this beautiful song and have the gall to upload it to you tube.

[@henryroscoe2464]

Very good version but, asthis is originally a boat pulling song, designed to give the oarsmen the rhythm, it was meant to have a more , “Spirited”, tempo to be effective as a work song!

[@coinneachmaclellan3121]

I love Scottish music but I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as "boat pulling music". Thanks for the info...Slainte Mhath.

[@henryroscoe2464]

@@coinneachmaclellan3121 it comes under the genre of work songs, but it was specifically designed to give the oarsmen their rhythm. Slainte!

[@coinneachmaclellan3121]

@henryroscoe2464 I've listened to the Scottish 'waulking' songs which I've really been impressed by as well as Gaelic Psalms which have such an otherworldly quality to them...the Scots never fail to impress me with the soulful quality of their music be it pipe bands or bands like Runrig and Wolfstone.

[@mtskull59]

Traditional Folk Songs are handed down from one generation to the next over hundreds, if not thousands of years. This was written in the 1930’s by a professional composer, 26 years after the last inhabitant abandoned the island of Mingulay. By all means enjoy it for what it is but don’t fool yourselves as to its origins.

[@NekonataVirino]

So, as things stand it’s almost a hundred years ago and being sung in sing-arounds and folk clubs by people - the very definition of folk music In addition i’ve been singing this myself for over fifty years and I learned it from someone two generations older than me and have taught it to my grand-son - so thats 5 generations right there As for your ridiculous assertion of proper folk songs being sung for ‘thousands of years’ what a load of old tosh - ‘sumer is a cumin in’ pretty much the oldest extant folk song from this country that we have concrete evidence for is only mid 13th century -ie not yet a thousand years. If you disregard anything later than that then there simply is not British folk scene at all.

[@N1inSK]

The bouzouki is an interesting touch. Maybe they were Greek fishermen who got lost and ended up in Scotland. (No offence intended to Greek fishermen and their navigation abilities). I also like the concertina piece at the end.

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

😂 Thank you! She’s actually an odd looking Cittern, beautifully made by Thomas Buchanan

[@paulaclark4121]

Does anyone know where I can get the music for th 8:34 is?

[@paulaclark4121]

Sorry, I don't know why that number came up...

[@irenemax3574]

@@paulaclark4121 8.34 is the length of the video.

[@banjojambo2219]

Who are these two performers?, beautiful rendition

[@michaellawlor1267]

David Harbottle and Freya Jonas

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you!

[@HarbottleAndJonas]

Thank you!

[@michaellawlor1267]

@@HarbottleAndJonas Don't mention it. Stunning stuff