Bliadhna nan Caorach

Or: “The Year Of The Sheep”

“But [the Scottish] hills are empty. In all of Britain only among them can one find real solitude, and if their history is known there is no satisfaction to be got from the experience.”
(John Prebble. From the introduction to his “The Highland Clearances”, Penguin Books, 1963.)

“Since you have preferred sheep to men, let sheep defend you!”
(Quotation from the same book.)

This is a song from the forthcoming CD which I’m lurching towards. I’m sure you all know that Bliadhna nan Caorach (The Year Of The Sheep) refers to the year 1792 during which all the flocks of sheep in Scotland formed an army and evicted the human population from the hills and the glens. (Eek!)

This has reached the stage where I would welcome critique on the sonics which you think I should maybe attend to before I commit to mastering. My own ears have thrown in the towel.
Some might say it’s another one of my attempts at shoe-horning some lyrics into something that wants to be an acoustic fingerstyle guitar piece!

The Year Of The Sheep can be streamed here.

Cheers!

The Year Of The Sheep

Five thousand children no foreigner could rule
Were slaughtered in the sleet when following a fool
To keep the people friendly, to keep the lion tame
They used the paper and the pen, the sword and the flame

From the year of the tourist to the year of the sheep
For the morality of the nation and the king’s peace to keep
For sound economics and cleanliness
They turned overpopulation into a wilderness

Now the hills are kept empty for sophisticated eyes
The picture on the postcard is the consolation prize
Oh my, look at the view!
The hills are kept empty for me and for you