Bonny Birds

Ch: Whaur erne, falcon, kestrel, kite
fleet their shadows fa,
Whaur hawk an buzzard hover,
still loch’s the osprey’s ha,
Whaur ay high stony crags
haud fast the eagle’s ca –
Guard the spirit o the skies,
Bonny birds ane an a.

Yestreen thirteen were sacrificed
for grouse and pheasant chooks;
The day twenty an twa hae faaen
for wee fat pluckin dukes.
Ghost raptors drap doon the sky
for clinkin bloody coin.
We were a bonny birds –
The wind has lost oor sang.

Oor searchin een see a, see a,
ower ben an strath an law;
We’re sherp in beak an claw, an claw –
we live by nature’s law;
Oor wings spread ower the glens, the glens –
lifts ower scree oor yens.
Whaur we lie wi dull dead eye
only the ghillie kens.

For haughty boast in stony ha
P’isons howked oor gasp awa,
Or shot or trapped we’re murdered a –
we ‘re disappeared awa.
Mang muirburn ash, sun bleach oor banes,
wind oor feathers blaw.
In dark o nicht the guilty hert
will fear oor talons fa.

(c) Colin Crombie

This year marks the third anniversary of the Ross-shire Massacre - when within a few days within a small area near Conon Bridge, 22 raptors - buzzards and kites - were found dead. Most were found to have been poisoned. This is an ongoing problem, and birds of prey continue to be killed, or simply disappear (by human action, not by natural cause), without prosecution or other legal repercussions. It is an old problem - the sea eagle (the erne in the song), persecuted to extinction in the Victorian era, has now seen a successful reintroduction - but still faces threats. This song, in Scots, in a traditional unaccompanied style, addresses this. It celebrates these bonny birds, and is dedicated to the memory of all those slain or disappeared without trace.