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The Springbank Voyage

by Barry Nisbet

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1.
Affrug 05:08
Da brakkin water’s rumblin ‘rong’ Like bass strings o a fiddle draan - Noo dat a still faas oer da land And I maan go - Like steady thunder for me mourns A song o hom Fae tears an kisses, drams an reels Da tide dat grips wis by da keel - Like ebb-stanes dat da affrug rives Fae solemn shore An draas dem poorless tae da deep - Tae sea wance more.
2.
Back – through cobbled streets and tram lines, tenements and bars Through the iron doors of the Kingston Shipbuilding Yard To the wet, windy August of eighteen-ninety-four And the air roars with hammers on hot steel The shouts o the foremen and the rumbling of wheels There’s Clydebridge steel in the stockyard you see on your right Though supply’s slowed production wi the coal workers’ strike There’s railcarts of rivets, coils of patent steel wire There’s red lead crews, caulkin teams There’s an apprentice who’s been sent to fetch a bucket of steam Where steel and iron meet with canvas and rope And the coal furnace kicks out great clouds of black smoke Where they work like machines by the banks of the Clyde And a brand new ship launches on every fourth tide. The four master on the blocks here will soon have her sails McAllister’s finest, for the fiercest Cape Horn gales 16 miles of rope straight off the Gourock walk Wi 4,000 tonnes of cargo inside She’s the latest commission for the Andrew Weir line
3.
Great masts that tower over harbour walls Seagulls cry beyond the piers Crew meet crew with darting gaze, and Hannah dreams Of blue skies, albatrosses, driving winds Sacks and sea-chests hauled aboard and stowed Check sheets and agents and provision carts Feet that pound on wooden decks, and Hannah and I dream Of far horizons, inky seas and racing clouds Of taut canvas, starlit nights and ocean swells Of singing rigging, swaying trees and distant shores
4.
Fly Free 04:41
I smelt the sand banks drying in the sun I heard the oystercatcher’s peepin cry I saw the land scrubbed from our decks Dark loom of coal dust and grime I saw a thousand gulls lift and with them my heart - Fly Free As we passed a river bend I heard the sounds of the city fade I saw the shelduck lead her young Past where the fishing children waved I saw the line of breakers that divided land from sea - Fly Free I saw the lamps lit on the coast As we left their warmth astern I heard the mast creak, felt the decks tense I felt the south west wind fill in I saw the tug let go, and we spread our white wings wide - Fly Free
5.
6.
Nerthus 04:19
Grim blows the north wind when the tern leaves the isles To face the Atlantic over 8,000 miles Over fair seas or foul, the contract we share Is that what is cast she must bear So come spread out your canvas, I will drive you on Through grey leaden front lines, to the salt-spray dawn The palm tree that reaches so high to the sun On the tropical shore till my summer storms come Roots ripped from the thin soil, fronds dashed on the beach Then a whispered sweet zephyr in retreat So come spread out your canvas, I will drive you free As flying fish flit across tropical seas A blast from the south or a breeze fae the north The cormorant feasts or the cormorant starves I may rage with abandon or be absent for weeks Till each parched creature cries for a breeze So come spread out your canvas, I will drive you on As the swells start to build from some distant storm. South – Where it’s winter already, dark, ocean-torn And a gale fills your topsails, drives you on to Cape Horn And the waves grow to monsters, south of Cape Horn
7.
8.
I have heard the raging waters on the darkest nights Seen balls of lightning hanging in the sky Where hailstones fall like marbles, and you hold on for your life As tumbling waves rear breakin close behind I have looked down from the topsail yard and seen the decks awash I have seen saltwater freeze hard to the shrouds I have seen the ship’s head buried in a sea of grey As the sky rolls dark with angry thunderclouds It’s not violent seas but cruel disease that tears the life fae William Leslie coughin, achin, fevered, hurtin, heavin, pitchin, tossin, turnin, weakening, dreamin, wastin away Did you hear the flogging canvas fae your fevered focsle berth The ‘All Hands’ calls, the sailors’ stamps and yells Did you dream about your brother on the ‘Jack Snipe’ just last year Shipwrecked, drowning, in some watery hell It’s not violent seas but cruel disease that tears the life from William Leslie The mate reads from his sodden prayer book As heavy sprays cascade and green seas sweep Across the plunging deck. The ensign drawn, the body falls So our shipmate is committed to the deep It’s not violent seas, but cruel disease that rips the life from William Leslie
9.
10.
A canvas shroud sinks, links of chain weighted Winks, descends the deepest blue The wind like lover’s breath, death-stilled As wraith of white slips from view I smelled the burning water, I breathed the aching air, I felt the thirsting tide engulfing all I ever cared for Tropic bird flies, cries, echoes stark on blue To horizons brittle and beyond And every tongue, dumb through utter drought Sun’s harsh consuming song I smelled the burning water, I breathed the aching air I felt the thirsting tide engulfing all I ever cared for I saw the sail fleets wither, tattered canvas, rusting hulls I saw the ditches dug, the world stripped of all light and colour I smelled the burning water, I breathed the aching air I felt the thirsting tide engulfing all I ever cared for I saw the forests toppled, I heard the glaciers fall I felt the deserts spread, engulfing all engulfing all
11.
The air crackles wi static, da sharp smell o da desert; A million stars in the darkest of skies A full press of canvas, da shore lights like fireflies Da hissin o water runs doon da port side Dark shapes o islands – Tortuga, San Marcos Ships lights at anchor, close tae da coast All crew on deck silent, awaitin Dan a call – ‘Hard a starboard’ a second – ‘Let Go!’ Sparks fly fae da windlass as chain rips oot, roarin Da anchor bites in da soft Baja sand Five thousand tonnes swings like a Newfoundland dory As we pull up all staandin a mile aff da land. Blistered hands shakkin write ida logbook 0200 - anchor let go Officers and crew, aloft tae stow canvas A Bittersweet Landfall for sure
12.
13.
Fae oot wir crofts we brave da winter raa Trow beatin hail an lashin gales an aa An head for lights o hoose, or kirk,or haa Tae folk weel kent An tae hear some wird o dem at’s far awa It gies wis strength And on sails da barque And aye we fin a light ati’ da dark A sombre night, a ship’s Australia boond Dark an empty ocean aa around It’s in da dark da brightest stars abound And if winds are fair We fin a path ahead lit by da møn An hope wance mair And on sails da barque And aye we fin a light ati’ da dark Da days o sail are no dat far astern An still we think on dem at cam afore Dem at kent da battle roond Cape Horn Der by wir side, Da bird at feels da light afore da dawn Is still wir guide And on sails da barque And aye we fin a light ati’ da dark

about

In June 1908 the Clydebuilt sailing barque 'Springbank' sailed from Leith, loading a cargo of coal in Hamburg before setting out on a 14,000 mile voyage round Cape Horn to Santa Rosalía, Mexico.

Her crew included a woman from Liverpool, a captain from Newfoundland, and several Shetlanders and Orcadians.

Heartbreak, danger and wonder follow the ship's traumatic voyage to her destination.

Shetland songwriter/fiddle player Barry Nisbet's all-new musical telling of the story includes a talented cast of Scottish musicians, and incorporates sample archive recordings from Shetland storyteller Lawrence Tulloch (1947-2017).

credits

released August 12, 2022

All music and lyrics by Barry Nisbet 2022
Recording: Robin Wynn Evans at Tpot Studio
Mixing: Adam Sinclair
Mastering: Andrew Tulloch

All tracks MCPS, PRS

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about

Barry Nisbet Scotland, UK

A skilled guitarist, fiddler and songwriter, Shetlander Barry Nisbet is inspired by stories, both historical and contemporary. Performing in dialect and English, his songs give a sensitive, occasionally humorous take on past and contemporary events.
As likely to be seen at the wheel of a tall ship as on a festival stage, Barry runs the 'Sessions and Sail' musical sailing voyages.
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