Scottish Lullaby is a traditional melody that comes from the clans of the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...
. Only the air Cdul gu lo (Sleep on till dawn) and not the original Scottish verses were used when a dramatization of
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
’s
Guy Mannering
''Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer'' is the second of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, ...
was presented. For this, Sir Walter Scott composed the verses ‘Lullaby for an Infant Child’.
The history of the Highlands and the wars by which the clans were able to preserve their independence are evoked in this first song for an infant. The dream is of the trumpet and the ideal is manhood. The lines of this lullaby are familiar to English speakers as a
nursery rhyme. They are a curtailed version of Sir Walter Scott’s verses.
Lyrics
:Blow the wind, blow;
:Swift and low;
:Blow the wind o'er the ocean.
:Breakers rolling to the coastline;
:Bringing ships to harbor;
:Gulls against the morning sunlight;
:Flying off to freedom!
References
{{reflist
Music of Scotland