Such was the impact of XII Taboos, especially The Jellicoe Express, that I was offered a publishing deal to record a second album. The album is a concept recording I suppose: because it was mostly written to commemorate the opening of the Scottish Parliament. This was recorded with Pete Rawson at Redwood featuring Struan Eaglesham, Fiona Sellar, Bobby Macdonald and my brother Norman McLeod. Amanda Munro created all of the beautiful artwork. The Jellicoe Express from the first album was picked up by Walking the Front whilst The Jellicoe Express on the second album still gets airplay and support from Radio Scotland and has been covered elsewhere. Cianalas was identified early on as a song to be played at funerals and I have been humbled by how much this song has come to mean to people. To you all, thank you.
Hallelujah! I See Freedom
Album Lyrics
FAREWELL TO CHAINS
The time has come to end this pain
To celebrate the Scottish reign
To gather up what we hae sae’n
And bid farewell to chains
From Nova Scotia to Freemantle Bay
From Cape to the Downs of May
We hear the whisper everyday
The chink of chains will fade away
By lochs where ruins lie
I hear cleared men cry
‘You live through we hae died
For hopes and dreams and pride’
THE JELLICOE EXPRESS
‘Wake up son look after Mam
You’re only four now you’re a man
I’m going to war it won’t be long
Until Jellicoe will bring me home’
Awa to war brave crofter man
He’s gone to fight the mighty hun
He’s gone to war to save our land
He’s gone to fight for me and Mam
It’s so lonely nights are long
But I am brave and I am strong
Each night we hear the thunderous roar
The Jellicoe goes by once more
In the early morning light
Marrel lies in peace and quiet
Dad is our fighting for our rights
Mama’s on her own tonight
We’ll go gatherin’ in the glen
We’ll go fishing to the sea
Burning bracken on the Ben
Son watch o’er your Mam for me
War is over Dad come home
Lord don’t leave us on our own
The Jellicoe crawls up the glen
Without our young brave Highland men
And on the night when all is lost
The train creeps quietly by the croft
On foreign fields he proudly dies
And all I hear is Mama’s cries
My mother lies now on her own
I hear her crying all alone
Death has chilled us to the bone
Oh Jellicoe please bring him home
We’ll go gatherin’ in the glen
We’ll go fishing to the sea
Burning bracken on the Ben
Son watch o’er your Mam for me
Now fifty years have slowly passed
And my dying dreams are fading fast
With a heavy heart I’ve left the strath
And gone to my Dad’s grave at last
Reichweldt’s quiet and peaceful Mam
Dad’s lying in the forest calm
With 7,000 saintly men
All waiting bravely for the train
As I touch your sacred grave
I quietly hum a peaceful psalm
And tell you not to worry now
For I hae kept watch o’er Mam
And when I walk away
I hear my father say
You’ll go gatherin’ in the glen
You’ll go sailing to the sea
Don’t sit alone on yonder Ben
Son you’ll always be with me
PEACE AND FREEDOM
You can take my hands and pray
And throw it all away
You can shed my blood and tears for freedom
You can change the world today
As I stumble on my way
You can bring us hope and peace and freedom
Silent night
Praying
For all the innocent
Who died for freedom
Crying tonight
Remembering
All the souls in heaven
Praying for freedom
You can touch our foreign land
And help us understand
What we do with all this peace and all this freedom
You can sleep in faith and love
With the only God above
You can sing the songs of peace and freedom
Let me take your hand
Tonight
CIANALAS
Fare thee well to the dust and to the land
I confess I did wrong
I’m but a man
I shall surely die I peace
If I’m alone
Aye
The ruin in the glen
Is still my home
Lay me down
In holy ground
My resting place
I have found
The sacred ground
My resting place
Lay me down
In Highland ground
My resting place
Cianalas
There’s a house in yonder glen
Where I belong
I still hear my true love sing
Her Highland songs
But the winds of change blew hard
And they blew strong
In the burns
The blood and tears
Flow ever on
As they reaped
So have I sown
Upon the land
Where the clan withstands the rock
But not the man
I must know from whence I come
To journey on
To a place where I can hear
The Highland songs
Cianalas
HALLELUJAH! I SEE FREEDOM
Who’s the boy on the good ship Pamela
Who’s the child on the wild North Sea
He’s the dreamer who died for freedom
They couldn’t take his pride
Or liberty
Who’s the girl on the good ship Hector
Ta’en from her bed by the lazy sea
She’s going to Pictou, wild Nova Scotia
Another hopeless child
Of liberty
Hallelujah!
I see freedom
On Desolation Road
And by the wild North Sea
Hallelujah!
We shall remember
Those who have died
For liberty
Who’s the man on the fine ship Justice
Tied in chains on the wild North Sea
He feels the pain of dependence
Of giving up the right
For liberty
Who’s the rogues on the old ship Treason
Trading hope by the wild North Sea
They denied us in the name of progress
This time we shall rise
For liberty
WE ARE THE LAND
You could say this rock is yours
I could say it’s mine
But it don’t matter when it comes to dying
For if we kill for rock and sand
Shall we ever understand
It’s we who belong to the dust
We are the land
We’re nothing but a handful of dust
We are the land