THE DARK LOCH

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The church at Croik near Glencalvie in Ross stands as a testament to the sheer brutality of the Highland Clearances. It was here in the graveyard that ninety members of the Clan Ross, twenty-three of them children under the age of ten, took shelter when they were driven from their homes in 1845 by British troops. The methods of eviction bore all the hallmarks of a modern-day ‘ethnic cleansing.’ The Rosses camped in the churchyard for a week before departing. Where they ended up is not known, but as they left they scratched their names and a few words in English onto the glass windows of the church. What they wrote is still visible to this day:

‘Glencalvie people was in the church here May 24, 1845…Glencalvie people the wicked generation…John Ross shepherd…Glencalvie people was here…Amy Ross…Glencalvie is a wilderness blow ship them to the colony…The Glencalvie Rosses.’

Thousands of evicted clansfolk were crowded into disease ridden refugee camps such as the ones on Glasgow Green and at Finnieston. Many of their children, including great John Maclean himself, went on to lead the workers revolt in Glasgow we call Red Clydeside.

D G D Bm D A G/B D

Neither at our own time or to the place of our own choosing

G D Bm A G/B D

The children of the dark loch were scattered in the wind

C G D G D

While God in his heaven all mercy was refusing

G D Bm A G/B D

We endured the wrath of a young god against whose laws we’d sinned

G D Bm

And one by one we scratched our names

G Em Bm A

On the broken teeth of shattered walls

Bm G Em Bm

And bid fareweel to the dark loch

A G D

Where the lonely curlew calls

Like waves the sheep rolled in when they drove us from the glen side

A thousand years of harping declared were none but ours

Bold Geordie’s kilted henchmen fell upon us like a landslide

And the children of the dark loch were trampled down like withered flowers

With target, dirk and sword our young men knew no equal

By such the wealth of chieftains is measured on the field

But in the day of clearing and treacherous betrayal

By the hand of our own kinsman the bailiff’s writ was sealed

Oot rough on Glesga Green our bairns and wives are lying

The children of the dark loch like beggars win their breid

Skeletons in tartan from foul diseases dying

Took kindness from the stranger in the blackened hour of need

And one by one we scratched our names

Ontae the rock of Glesga’s pride

John Heilan man tak’ up your pipes

And skirl the ballant o’ Red Clyde

Chord Chart

Intro Tag:

D / / / I Asus2 / / / I G5 / / / I D / / / I x2

Verse:

D / G / I D / Bm I D / A G I D / / / I

G / / / I D / Bm / I A / G / I D / / / I

C / / G I D / / / I G / / / I D / / / I

G / / / I D / Bm / I A /G / I D / / / I

Chorus:

G / / / I D / Bm / I G / Em / I Bm / A / I

Bm / G / I Em / Bm / I A / G / I D / / / I

Outro:

D / / / I Bm / / / I Em / G / I A - - - I

Playing Tips

I tuned the guitar to DADEAB for this one on the ‘Sleepy Scotland’ album, but it works nicely in standard tuning as well. For the first D chord in the tags, play a high D at the 5 th and 7 th frets. That would be XX0775 in standard tuning.

Asus2 is just an A chord with a B in it. X02200 is the easiest way to play it. You can chuck in an Asus4 on the 3 rd beat of the bar too. That’s X02230 in case you hadn’t figured that out already. Just count four notes up from the A to get D, which is the sus4 of A. Easy, huh?

G/B means you play a G chord with the B on the 5 th string as the lowest note. That’s X2003X. X means don’t sound that string.

It’s actually easier to do this one in standard tuning than in DADEAB, but I like the wide-open ringing sound of the modal tuning. I do think its best as a finger picked song myself, but a slow strumming thing can be okay too.