by Walter Scott, Sir (1771 - 1832)
Farewell to Northmaven
Language: English
Farewell to Northmaven, Grey Hillswicke, farewell! The storms on thy haven, The storms on thy fell, To each breeze that can vary The mood of thy main, And to thee, bonny Mary! We meet not again! Farewell the wild ferry, Which Hacon could brave, When the peaks of the Skerry Where white in the wave. There's a maid may look over These wild waves in vain, For the skiff of her lover, He comes not again! The vows thou hast broke, On the wild currents fling them; On the quicksand and rock Let the mermaidens sing them. New sweetness they'll give her Bewildering strain; But there's one who will never Believe them again. O were there an island, Though ever so wild, Where woman could smile, and No man be beguiled, Too tempting a snare To poor mortals were given; And the hope would fix there, That should anchor in heaven.
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Text Authorship:
- by Walter Scott, Sir (1771 - 1832), "Claud Halcro's song", appears in The Pirate [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Francis Boott (1813 - 1904), as Telford, "Lass of Northmaven", published 1845 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 3, Boston: Geo. P. Reed Publishing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eliza Flower (1803 - 1846), "Farewell to Northmaven", published 1831? [ chorus and piano ], from Musical Illustrations of the Waverley Novels, no. 12, London : Jos. Alfred Novello [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Michael Johann) Heinrich Döring (1789 - 1862) , no title ; composed by Joseph Netzer.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-10-12
Line count: 32
Word count: 151