List of Songs Not on a CD ~ Songs of Mike Kennedy Home Page
Printable Version - PDF ~ MP3 - Complete ~ Original Poem ~ Notes
Tell me what was on your road, you roarin' Norland wind?
As ye go gangin' frae the north that's ever on my mind
Ma feet then traveled England, though I'm dying for the north.
"Aye, man, I saw the siller tide run up the Firth o' Forth."
Aye, wind, I know it well enough, and find it fall and rise
And from the fields the creeping mist on yonder shore does lie
But tell me as you pass them by, what saw ye on your way?
"Aye, man I saw the rovin' gulls that sailed up in the Tay."
But saw ye nothing, leeing wind, afore you came a Fife?
For there's muckle lying yond the Tay that's mair to me than life
"Aye, man, I swept the Angus straths that you hivna trod in years"
Oh wind, where goes the lonely loon, aye, that cannot see for tears?
"And as I swept the Angus straths, I saw the wild geese flee
A lang, a lang skean of beatin' wings with their heads towards the sea
And aye, their roaring voices trailed behind them in the air."
Oh wind, have mercy, hold your tongue, for I canna listen mair.
“Oh tell me fit was on yer road, ye roarin Norland wind?
As ye come blawin frae the land that's never frae ma mind.
Ma feet they traivel England but I'm deein for the North.”
“Ma man, I saw the siller tides rin up the Firth o Forth.”
“Aye wind, I ken them weel eneuch an fine they fa and rise,
And fain I'd feel the creepin mist on yonder shore that lies.
But tell me as ye pass them by, fit saw ye on the way?”
“Ma man, I rocked the rovin gulls that sail abin the Tay.”
“Bit saw ye naethin leein wind afore ye come tae Fife?
For there's muckle lyin 'yont the Tay that's mair tae me nor life.”
“Ma man, I swept the Angus braes that ye hivna trod for years.”
“Oh wind, forgie a hameless loon that canna see for tears.”
“And far abin the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A lang, lang skein o beatin wings wi their heids toward the sea,
And aye their cryin voices trailed ahint them on the air.”
“Oh wind, hae mercy, haud your wheesht for I daurna listen mair.”
Jim Reid set the poem to music and recorded it as The Wild Geese / Norland Wind on his 1984 album I Saw the Wild Geese Flee.
The Angus straths are farmland between the Grampian mountains of highland Perthshire and the Firth of Tay - the Tay river estuary. The ancient 'kingdom' of Fife lies between the Tay to the north and the Firth of Forth to the south. Further south lies Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Pentland Hills (https://www.springthyme.co.uk/wildgeese/).