The McCalmans   •     Side By Side By Side

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  • Side By Side By Side
    • 1977 - Transatlantic TRA 346 LP (UK)
  • Side One
    1. Side by Side by Side (Stephen Sondheim)
    2. Romeo And Juliet (Stan Kelly)
    3. Dancing Days (Bill Meek, John Connolly)
    4. Bellman's Song (Bill Meek)
    5. The Chair at The Table (Unknown)
    6. Hornpipe
    7. Farewell to Sicily (Hamish Henderson)
  • Side Two
    1. Sheriff Muir
    2. Loving Hanne
    3. German Lairdie
    4. Standing in The Rain (Sydney Carter)
    5. Broadside Man (John Connolly)
    6. Bound to Go
    7. Side by Side (H. Woods)

  • The McCalmans
    • Derek Moffat: vocals, guitar, bodhrán, fiddle
    • Ian McCalman: vocals, guitar, weirdolin (12-string lute), banjo
    • Hamish Bayne: vocals, mandolin, whistle, celeste, concertinas
  • Credits
    • Recorded at Olympic Studios, Chelsea
    • Engineer: Victor Gamm
    • Produced by Nathan Joseph
    • Sleeve Design by Paul Chave/Tactics
    • Photography by Castle Photographic
    • All tracks: Trad. Arr. The McCalmans, unless otherwise noted

SIDE BY SIDE BY SIDE
(Stephen Sondheim)

Vocals: all

Lyrics
One is lonely and two is boring
Think what you can keep ignoring
Side by side by side.


ROMEO & JULIET
(Stan Kelly)

Vocals: All share lead
Hamish: Mandolin, whistle
Ian: Banjo, Guitar
Derek: guitar

Lyrics
Two teams alike in dignity in Edinburgh we set our scene
And Julie's dad was Scotland mad while Romeo followed Phil Bennets team.

As she was going to Murrayfield Park
It being the international day
He passed her on the way to the match
And pretended that hed lost his way.

Oh Julie dear can you help me
Im sweating leeks cos its ten to three
And if I am late for the Murrayfield tie
Ill miss Gareth Edwards opening try

She flashed her saucy eyes at him
And oh they were St. Andrews blue
She answered him right modestly
Id rather be dead than a red like you.

Im a Murrayfield Maverick through and through
And I would die for the lads in blue
But Ill lead you to the holy ground
Lest you miss Irvine scoring two

He arched his back against the bar
To save her from the swaying fans
Sung Flower Of Scotland Sosban Fach
And they left Murrayfield holding hands.

Well Julies dad was raving mad
And Romeos nearly went berserk
So over a black and tan that night
They agreed mixed marriages never worked

So while the moon was shining bright
Our star-crossed lovers eloped one night
They were wed next day at Gretna Green
Now theyre trying to raise a British Lions team.


DANCING DAYS
(John Connolly/Bill Meek)

Lead vocals: Ian & Derek
Ian: guitar, weirdolin (12 string lute)
Hamish: celeste, whistle
Derek: Bodhrán, guitar

Lyrics
When we were lads of long ago
The lively breaks the friendly face
The music and the measure
Twas in and out and round about
And swing her down the middle
The rousing ranting rattling drum
The music of the whistle

The journeymans fiddlers hand is still
No more hell play the rover
The piper sleeps beneath the hill
And dancing days are over

And in the gloomy winter day
The sky was like a cinder
Me boots along the alleyways
They ran like flint and tinder
I danced to drive the dark away
To break the ties that bound me
And through the mirk and through the rain
The sparks they danced around me

The dancing days are dying now
The musics loud and crazy
The lads and lassies don't know how
To move their bodies easy
There aint the men to make the tunes
There aint the boys to play them
A bunch of boys to make a noise
And fifty fools to pay them

Five and forty years are gone
Since we were lads a-leaping
The dancing feet are weary now
The smiling eyes are weeping
Where are the dancing Englishmen
Who sang for celebration
When England learns to dance again
Shell prove a wiser nation


BELLMANS SONG
(Bill Meek)

Ian: weirdolin, guitar
Hamish: concertinas
Derek: guitar

Lyrics
Good people all come hear my bell
Both rich and poor take warning
I ring the curfew and the crime
And mark the march of rascal time
And sing amusing cheerful rhyme
Around the town each morning.

Ding dong the bellmans song ringing loud and ringing long
Ding dong along the prom the crooked streets echo the bellmans song

The sun is up the morning fair
Awake ye drowsy sleepers
Heres judgement new on tithes and doles
Heres news of taxes and of tolls
The price of turf the price of coals
And farmers needing reapers

An ordinary will be held
Behind the Fleece tomorrow
With greasy Paul and jingling match
With donkey race and hogtail snatch
And minstrels all with song and catch
To drive away all sorrow

Through shining noon to slumberous night
Across the sky comes creeping
In mansion great or cottage small
None dare dismiss the bellmans call
For time makes slavies of us all
And time is in my keeping.


THE CHAIR AT THE TABLE
(unknown)

Lead vocal: Ian
Vocals: all

Lyrics
The star in the window took my place for a while
But I know that Im still in your heart
My place at the table has been empty for so long
But soon Ill be ready to start

So put another chair at the table
Set another place there for me
I know that youve been blue
And you have missed me too
But now Im coming home to you my dear
So put another chair at the table
Put another chair there for me.

The time will soon be here
When Ill be standing there
Right back where I belong my dear
Put another chair at the table
Put another chair there for me.


HORNPIPE

Hamish: concertina, whistle
Derek: guitar


FAREWELL TO SICILY
(Hamish Henderson)

Lead vocals: Ian & Derek
Ian: guitar
Hamish: concertina
Derek: guitar

Lyrics
The pipe is dozie the pipie is fey He wullnae come roon for his vino the day
The sky owr Messina is unco and grey An a the bright chaulmers are eerie
Then fare weel ye banks o Sicily Fare ye weel ye valley and shaw
Theres nae Jock will mourn the kyles oye Puir bliddy swaddles are wearie
Fare weel ye banks oSicily Fare ye weel ye valley and shaw
Theres nae home can smoor the wiles o ye Puir bliddy swaddles are woarie
Then doon the stair and line the waterside Wait your turn the ferrys awa
Then doon the stair and line the waterside A the bricht chaulmers are eerie
The drummie is polisht the drummie is braw He cannae be seen for his weblm awa
Hes beezed himsel up for a photy and Tae leave wi his Lola his dearie
Sae fare weel ye dives o Sicily Fare ye wheel ye shieling an ha
Well a mind shebeens and bothies Whaur kind signoritas cheerie
Fare weel ye banks o Sicily Fare ye weel ye shieling an ha
Well a mind shebeens and bothies Whaur Jock made a date wi his dearie
Then tune the pipes and drub the tenor drum leave your kit this side o the wa
Then tune the pipes and drub the tenor drum A the bricht chaulmers are eerie.


SHERIFF MUIR

Lead vocal: Ian
Ian: guitar
Derek: Bodhrán, guitar
Hamish: whistle

Lyrics
Theres some say that we wan and some say that they wan
And some say that nane wan at a man
But one thing is sure that at Shenffmuir
A battle was fought on that day man
And we ran and they ran and they ran and we ran
And we ran and they ran awa man.

Now trumpet McLean whose breeks were not clean
By misfortune did happen to fa man
By saving his neck his trumpet did break
He came off without music at a man.
And we ran and they ran and they ran and we ran
And we ran and they ran awa man.

Whether we wan or they wan or they wan or we wan
Or if there was winnin at a man
Theres nae man can tell save our brave general
Wha first began runnin awa man
And we ran and they ran and they ran and we ran
And we ran and they ran awa man.

Pray come ye here the fight tae shun or keep the sheep wi me man
Or was you at the Sheriffmuir and did the battle see man
Pray tell which o the parties won for weel I know I saw them run
Both south and north when they begun tae pell and mell
And kill and fill wi muskets snell and pistols knell
And some tae hell did flee man.
And we ran and they ran and they ran and we ran
And we ran and they ran awa man.

But my dear will I kenna still which o the twa did lose man
For weel I know they had good skill tae set upon their foes man
The Redcoats they are trained you see the Highland cIans disdain tae flee
Wha then shall gain the victory but the Highland race
All in a brace with a swift pace to the Whigs disgrace
Did put to chase their foes man.

But Scotland has not much to say for such a fight as this is
For baith did fight baith ran away the devil take the misses
For every sodjer was not slain that ran that day and was not slain
Either flying from of to Dunblain for fear of foes
That they should lose the bowls o brose all crying
Woes, yonder them goes dye see man
Theres no one knows whos won man
And we ran and they ran and they ran and we ran
And we ran and they ran awa man.


LOVING HANNE

Lead vocal: Derek

Lyrics
I went to church on Sunday
My love she passed me by
I could see her love a changing
By the roving of her eye.

Oh my love is fair and clever
Her hands are neat and small
For she is quite good looking
And thats the best of all.

Oh Hanne loving Hanne
Pray give to me your hand
You said if ere you married
That I would be the man.

Oh Ill go down to the water
When everyones asleep
And Ill think on loving
Hanne And then sit down and weep.


GERMAN LAIRDIE

Lead vocal: Ian
Hamish: concertina, whistle
Derek: Bodhrán, guitar
Ian: Weirdolin, guitar

Lyrics
Wha the deil hae we gotten for a king
But a wee wee German lairdie
When we gaed oer tae bring him hame
He was diggin in his yairdie
He was sheughin kale and layin leeks
Withoot the hose an but the breeks
And up his beggar duds he cleeks
This wee wee German lairdie.

Now hes clappit doon in his guid mans chair
This week wee German lairdie
And hes brought forth a his foreign trash
And dibbled it in his yairdie
Hes pued the rose o English loons
And broken the harp o Irish clowns
But oor thistle taps will jag his thumbs
This wee wee German lairdie

O Scotland thourt ower cauls a hole
For nursin sickin verman
For the very dogs o EngIands courts
They bark anci howl in German
Sae take thy dibble in thy hand
Thy claes but and thy yairdie
For wha the deil now claims the Iand
But a wee wee German lairdie.


STANDING IN THE RAIN
(Sydney Carter)

Lead vocal: Derek
Ian: guitar
Hamish: mandolin
Derek: guitar

Lyrics
No use knocking on the window
There is nothing we can do sir
All the beds are booked already
There is nothing left for you sir.
Standing in the rain knocking on the window
Knocking on the window on a Christmas Day
There he is again knocking on the window
Knocking on the window in the same old way.

No use knocking on the window
Some are lucky some are not sir
We are Christian men and women
But were keeping what weve got sir.
Standing in the rain knocking on the window
Knocking on the window on a Christmas Day
There he is again knocking on the window
Knocking on the window in the same old way.

No we havent got a manger
No we havent got a stable
We are Christian men and women
Always willing: never able.
Standing in the rain knocking on the window
Knocking on the window on a Christmas Day
There he is again knocking on the window
Knocking on the window in the same old way.

Christ the Lord has gone to Heaven
One day hell be coming back sir
In this house he will be welcome
But we hope he won't be black sir
Standing in the rain knocking on the window
Knocking on the window on a Christmas Day
There he is again knocking on the window
Knocking on the window in the same old way.

Standing in the rain knocking on the window
Knocking on the window on a Christmas Day
There he is again knocking on the window
Knocking on the window in the same old way.


BROADSIDE MAN
(John Connolly)

Lead vocal: Ian
Ian: banjo
Derek: fiddle
Hamish: concertina

Lyrics
Come and buy come and buy be you poor or gentry
Gather round the broadside man and lay your money down
We have ballads long and short and the best of every sort
For a single poultry penny all the news of London town.

There are floods in Worcester town and the rain is tumbling down
A most amazing monster has been captured in the deep
Heres a bold and stirring tale of the hunting of the whale
And the story of a person who was pressed away to sea.

Heres the finest sheets of all fresh today from Stationers Hall
A newly written ballad of Lord Nelsons victory
Heres the news from all the courts all the cases and reports
And the ranting of a pirate who was hanged on tiger tree.

Heres the tale about a maid of a brisk and rambling trade
Betraying of a tinker who was taken by her charms
And the story of a wife its the truth apon me life
Who came apon her husband rolling in the milkmaids arms.


BOUND TO GO
(Ian McCalman)

Lead vocals: Hamish, Derek and Ian
Ian: weirdolin, guitar
Derek: guitar
Hamish: mandolin

Lyrics
We are three lowland travellers and now we must away
Its hello and goodbye are the words we mostly say
We might see you in the autumn when the leaves are falling low
So farewell good people were all bound to go.
Bound to go bound to go
So farewell good people
Were all bound to go.

The road weve come was long and hard from coast to foreign coast
Its hello and goodbye were the words weve used the most
We might see you in the springtime when the ice will melt and flow
So farewell good people were bound to go
So farewell good people were all bound to go.
Bound to go bound to go
So farewell good people
Were all bound to go.

Weve drunk and sung and slept a bit our loves have come and gone
Its hello and goodbye is the old familiar song
We might see you in the winter driving through the rain and snow
So farewell good people were all bound to go
Bound to go bound to go
So farewell good people
Were all bound to go.

And when travelling days are over and the soft times on us fall
Its hello and goodbye are the words that well recall
And well give a thought to a thousand friends and the few we came to know
So farewell good people were all bound to go.
Bound to go bound to go
So farewell good people
Were all bound to go.


SIDE BY SIDE
(H. Woods)

Vocals: all

Lyrics
Well we aint got a barrel of money
Maybe were ragged and funny
But were travelling along
Singing a song
Side by side by side bye bye