Over the Water to Charlie (song)
Notation:
Standard Notation
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Mandolin Tablature
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Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Song Sheet
Scottish
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
Come boat me o'er, come ferry me o'er,
Come boat me o'er tae Charlie.
I'd hear the call once, but never again,
Tae carry me over tae Charlie.
Chorus:
We'll over the water, we'll over the sea,
We'll over the water tae Charlie.
Come weel, come woe, we'll gather and go
And live or die with Charlie.
I lo'e weel my Charlie's name,
Tho' some there be abhor him:
But O, to see auld Nick gaun hame,
And Charlie's faes before him!
Chorus
I swear by moon and stars sae bright,
And sun that shines sae dearly,
If I had twenty-thousand lives
I'd gie them all for Charlie.
Chorus
Once I had sons, but now I've gat nane,
I've treated them all sae sairly.
But I would bear them all again,
And lose them all for Charlie
Chorus
"Over the Water to Charlie" is a Scottish Jacobite song in 6/8 time and D major.<br> Though the title stems from the Jacobite era, the tune is older and has had many names<br> such as "Charley Over the Water", "Over the Water", "Wishaw's Delight" and others.<br> The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45,<br> in Scottish Gaelic: Bliadhna Theàrlaich (The Year of Charles), was an attempt by Charles<br> Edward Stuart (the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie) to regain the British throne<br> for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender).<br> It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of the British Army was<br> fighting in mainland Europe and was the last in a series of revolts that began in 1689, with<br> major outbreaks in 1708, 1715 and 1719. The uprising ended at the Battle of Culloden on April 16th,<br> that lasted less than an hour and ended in a decisive government victory.<br> Early printings of the tune can be found in Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion, book 4,<br> (1752),<br> the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768),<br> Jonathan Fentum’s Compleat Tutor for the German Flute (London, 1766), and<br> Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 16).<br> A three-verse version exists in the Scots Musical Museum (1788) and it appears in<br> Hogg’s Jacobite Relics (early 1800's). <br> There are many variations of the melody, normally jigs. One example is included in this collection. <br> The song version was recorded by The New Golden Ring group on Five Days Singing, vol II.<br>
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