Henry's Songbook

There are twa bonnie maidens, and three bonnie maidens
Come owre the Minch, come owre the main
With the wind for their way and the corry for their hame
They are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

Come along, come along wi' your boatie and your song
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids
For the night it is dark, the Redcoat is gone
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

There is Flora, my honey, sae dear, sae bonnie
And ane, that's sae tall, sae handsome and all
Put the one for my king and the other for my queen
They are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

Come along, come along wi' your boatie and your song
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids
For the Lady Macoulain, she dwelleth all her lane
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

Her arm it is long and her petticoat is strong
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids
The sea moullit's nest I will watch o'er the main
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

Come along, come along wi' your boatie and your song
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids
And saft shall ye rest where the heather grows best
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

There's a wind in the tree, a ship on the sea
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids
Your cradle I'll rock on the lea of the rock
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

Come along, come along wi' your boatie and your song
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids
Mair sound shall ye sleep as she sail o'er the deep
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again

(as sung by The Corries)

[1972:] [Charles Edward Stuart's] flight was a desperate business; he was an embarrassment to the chiefs into whose lands he came; only reluctantly did Flora Macdonald, whose father was with the government forces, convey him to Skye [...]. (Mackie 275)

[1975:] Charles [...] took leave of his preserver. Flora [...] says nothing of any emotional scene on this occasion - in striking contrast to the accounts given by several of the Prince's male companions on the occasion of their parting with him: we remember, for example, O'Sullivan's loud weeping and long embrace. Flora was a hard-headed and highly competent young woman who managed her part of the affair very successfully. [She] was arrested on her way back to her home in Armadale[,] taken to London and imprisoned in the Tower, but was released under the Act of Indemnity of 1747. She married Allan Macdonald in 1750, and in 1774 they emigrated to North Carolina. But they returned to Skye in 1779, disapproving of the revolt of the American colonies. (David Daiches, Charles Edward Stuart 227)

[1986:] The Twa Bonnie Maidens were Flora McDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was disguised as her serving woman 'Betty' in order to escape the Redcoats, i.e. soldiers. (Conway, 100 Songs 86)

[1998:] The song is entitled "Prince Charles and Flora McDonald's Welcome to Sky" in James Hogg's 'Jacobite Relics of Scotland', II #88, 1821. Hogg said it was taken down 'verbatim from the mouth of Mrs. Betty Cameron from Lochaber,...'.

The tune given is called "The Isle of Sky" in several Scots tune collections, but it isn't the oldest of that title. In O'Neill's 'Music of Ireland' the tune is called "George Brabazon [II]" and attributed to O'Carolan, but that title and attribution is not found elsewhere. (Bruce Olson, www.mudcat.org, 5 Oct)

More notes on Flora MacDonald see 'Skye Boat Song', 'Strong Women Rule Us All'

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