The Ghost of Robb Donn

The ghost of Robb Donn sits with his head in his hands,

from the slopes of Foinavon he surveys the land

he counts out the houses that show no sign of life

or hold no human warmth on these cold winter nights.

In his sixty three years he'd wanderd these lands

from the strath at the Naver to the Sandwood bay sands

On Hope's high cattle pasture he'd compose his lines

that captured this beauty in simpler times

Now where he once drew the smoke from a welcoming fire

theres now shutters and boards behind strands of barbed wire

And on a rusting old plough that once turnes over the land

sits the ghost of rob Donn with his head in his hands

Oh Rob Donn oh Rob Donn are we past being saved do you twist do you turn as you lie in your grage

Do your cold bones rattle at every deal that gets made oh Rob Donn are we past being saved.

 

He began to remanice about Balnakiel Bay

with it's sun warmed sands at the end of the day

creating hot air currents that carry sea birds away, soaring with no beating of wings

Her staggering sunsets across the boundless sky, with the bleeding of the colours as the last rays die

Once reflected in the polished brass of the ships that had sailed, carrying dissposesed people whos best efforts had failed

He recited the names of the famlies who sailed

to Jamaica Carolina and New Found Land

Those proud people drived down to their knees

by  the greed of a landlord they could never appease

Oh Rob Donn oh Rob Donn are we past being saved do you twist do you turn as you lie in your grage

Do your cold bones rattle at every deal that gets made oh Rob Donn are we past being saved.

 

In the land of two seasons now winters come early

no subtle change for the leafs on the tree

no autom gold in the september sunlight

just lengthning shadows as the  migrants all leave

 

The ghost of Rob Donn takes one last long look

begins to fade from my view with each breath that he took

untill all that remained was a solitary tear

that had dripped from his eye

when he saw what was happening here.

Oh Rob Donn oh Rob Donn are we past being saved do you twist do you turn as you lie in your grage

Do your cold bones rattle at every deal that gets made oh Rob Donn are we past being saved.

 

 coming soon May 3th - DOWNLOAD AN OLD RECORDING OF ROBB DONN WITH MORRIS PERT

ON KEYBOARD AND PERCUSSION  Released on the cassette The Big Wave in 2000

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