Theme Song from Outlander

Since it was several of you who got me started on the STARZ series, Outlander, I am sharing some interesting information on the theme song.  This tune just captivated me, and I started researching online.  Then the English major in me got hooked on the history of the lyrics to the song.  If you are not familiar with the song, listen to a YouTube clip; it is just one minute long. Theme to Outlander

Charles Edward Stuart

The composer who created the score for Outlander, is a man named Bear McCleary.  He adapted an old Scottish folk tune, "The Skye Boat Song."  It was first written to tell the story of when Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to the Isle of Skye after being defeated at The Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746.  Below are just a few verses from the original song:



 Original lyrics
[Chorus:] Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.

Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclouds rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.

[Chorus]

Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,

Battle of Culloden

Ocean's a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.

[Chorus]

Many's the lad fought on that day,
Well the Claymore could wield,
When the night came, silently lay
Dead on Culloden's field.

[Chorus]

Burned are their homes, exile and death
Scatter the loyal men;
Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath
Charlie will come again.


In 1892, the Scottish poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, rewrote the lyrics of the original song into a poem titled "Sing me a Song of a Lad that is Gone."  I thought, perhaps, my father had read it to me in a book from my childhood, A Child's Garden of Verses.  (My father was born in Greenock, Scotland.)  I pulled out my copy, but it was not in there.  The writing style of the poem, though, was very familiar to me.  Stevenson was still writing about Charles Edward Stuart.  In the Outlander series, Claire is right in the middle of the Jacobite Uprising and tries to warn the Highlanders that it won't be successful.  Below is the Robert Louis Stevenson poem:

Sing me a Song of a Lad that is Gone

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,

      Say, could that lad be I?

Merry of soul he sailed on a day

      Over the sea to Skye.

Mull was astern, Rum on the port,

      Eigg on the starboard bow;

Glory of youth glowed in his soul;

      Where is that glory now?

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,

Isle of Skye

      Say, could that lad be I?

Merry of soul he sailed on a day

      Over the sea to Skye.

Give me again all that was there,

      Give me the sun that shone!

Give me the eyes, give me the soul,

      Give me the lad that's gone!

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,

      Say, could that lad be I?

Merry of soul he sailed on a day

      Over the sea to Skye.

Billow and breeze, islands and seas,

      Mountains of rain and sun,

All that was good, all that was fair,

      All that was me is gone.

Finally, Bear McCleary changed the text of this poem from "lad" to "lass" to reflect the female character, Claire, and set the words to the melody of the folk tune.  There is one more verse in this adaptation that is not included in the opening to each episode.  It is such a beautiful theme, and Raya Yarbrough's voice is almost ethereal.  

Chorus:
Sing me a song of a lass that is gone,
Say, could that lass be I?
Merry of soul she sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye. 

Billow and breeze, islands and seas,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone.

Repeat chorus 

Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone,
Give me the eyes, give me the soul
Give me the lass that's gone. 

Repeat chorus