set to music by Frances Cockburn
for soprano, alto, tenor and bass chorus

SATB performance time approx 30s

Music

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Words

The auld men o' the sea
Wi' their daberlack hair
Ha'e dackered the coasts
O' the country fell sair.

They gobble owre cas'les,
Chow mountains to san',
Or lang they'll eat up
The haill o' the lan'.

Lickin' their white lips
An' yowlin' for mair,
The auld men o' the sea
Wi' their daberlack hair.

Hugh MacDiarmid

Thanks to Carcanet Press Limited for permission to use this poem.

The old men of the sea
with their lank tangled hair
have wandered the coasts
of the country full sore

They gobble up castles,
chew mountains to sand,
before long they'll eat up
the whole of the land.

Licking their white lips
and crying out for more,
the old men of the sea
with their lank tangled hair.

Canasg editors

Price

The price of this piece depends on the number of singers in your group. This is a single payment for a licence to make as many copies as you need for your group to rehearse and perform the song as often as you wish. Copies of the song must not be given, lent or sold to any other group.

Companion pieces