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Kildonan Strath

from Into the Light by Alex MacDonald

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about

I was born and grew up in the Strath of Kildonan in Sutherland, Scotland, an area rich in archeological remains stretching back over thousands of years. Two hundred years ago it was also the scene of the some of the worst of the infamous Highland Clearances when people were evicted from their homes to make way for large sheep farms. People talk a lot now of conserving this "wilderness" area, not realising that it's a very recent creation.

lyrics

Kildonan Strath
Two thousand years you sheltered the people of the North
The stone for their tall towers, the harvests of the earth
Neither Rome nor Vikings could remove them from the soil
Winter snow and summer rain could not frustrate their toil

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

There Donan’s church was founded with light from the Promised Land
And in the love of Christ the people learned to stand
The raiders from the sea were mingled there in time
There were rivers to cross and mountains to climb

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

In Seventeen Forty-Five, there were two hundred men
Who were listed to bear arms by the Earl of Sutherland’s pen
To defend Crown and country from the Young Pretender’s threat
But 70 years later the Crown forgot its debt

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

For now the land lies empty, the people scattered wide
The wind of changes blew across both time and tide
The homes are tumbled ruins, the rigs are swallowed up
And the disinherited still drink the bitter cup

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

Where people lived in plenty in the hollow of the hills
All now lie in ruins, the houses and the mills
The churches and the graveyards, the scenes of death and life
All vanished from the landscape, its heart cut with a knife

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

Old soldiers, teachers, tailors, men of faith and men of war
Cast adrift upon the world, what was any of it for?
Schemes and dreams of wealthy men, the land a wilderness
Men and women, children too, homeless in distress

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

Like leaves at the end of autumn they were scattered in the wind
Despised and rejected as if they were the ones who sinned
Some crossed the wild Atlantic to the frozen Hudson Bay
Some would not forsake the land, on the rocky coast they’d stay

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

You talk of conservation and the last great wilderness
When the land that you’re conserving was created by duress
It’s a creature of two hundred years of failure and misdeed
Two thousand years of culture destroyed by power and greed

A wild wind is blowing through Kildonan Strath
A wild wind is blowing through the ruins and the wrath

© Alex J MacDonald 2017

credits

from Into the Light, released November 25, 2017
Alex MacDonald: vocals and acoustic guitar
Rob MacDonald: drums
Phil Onslow: bass
Cailean Morison: organ
Rebecca Green: backing vocals
Jon Green: trumpet, backing vocals
Vickie Ross: trombone
Steven Hammer: trombone
Spider Mackenzie: harmonica

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Alex MacDonald Edinburgh, UK

Grew up in Kildonan Strath, Sutherland, where I loved the psalms and hymns and the old folk songs my father had learned from his drover grand uncle.Went on to Cash, the Clancys and Corries, Tom Paxton and Dylan. Started playing guitar and writing songs in my teens, but only started recording this century with my rock band sons! Either solo or with my band, I've played all over Scotland. ... more

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