Introducing the AO Folk Songs for 2026-2027

 TERM 1

The Bold Grenadier

Home on the Range

The Rising of the Moon 

TERM 2

Skye Boat Song

Uist Tramping Song 

Down by the Salley Gardens 

TERM 3

Sourwood Mountain

Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier 

 A Capital Ship/The Walloping Window Blind

Some of you may remember these songs from the last time we worked our way through the AmblesideOnline cycle of folk songs. But some of them are brand new additions, even for those who have been around for awhile, so please update older schedules you may have printed. 

For selected video links, please visit our Folk Songs page at AmblesideOnline.org. 

We are also featuring each folk song on its very own post here on Archipelago, linked in the list above. These posts will be linked from the AO Folk Songs page, too. This way, when you start preparing to introduce a new song, it will be easy as pie to click straight to that song's blog post. Be sure to check out each song's post for recommended lyrics and recordings, and interesting info about each song.

And Now For A Few Helpful Hints

If you’re new around here (and if so, welcome and we’re so glad you’re here!), please (we beg you!) read/re-read Wendi Capehart’s post Folk Songs: Some Back Story. Then read her brief but terrific introductory comments here, where she shared some of her easy but brilliant ideas for living the folk singing life.

You may also enjoy this essay by Lynn Bruce: Folk Songs, Unplugged. 

And if you’re still not quite sure why we AO folks make such a fuss about singing, please read Folk Songs: Some Real Life Experiences for a hearty dose of encouragement. 

Here's to another great year of singing!

Folk Song for June 2027: A Capital Ship (The Walloping Window Blind)

The last song for this school year is a fun one. It was written as a nonsense song by Charles Edward Carryl in 1885, borrowing the chorus of another song called "Ten Thousand Miles." The song became even more popular in the twentieth century, with recordings such as those by Tom Glazer and Tom Chapin (both linked below). 

Anne's note: "If you find yourself contemplating what hot-cross buns would taste like served up with sugar and glue, you've probably been playing this song too much."

Lyrics (as posted here)

A capital ship for an ocean trip
Was the "Walloping Window Blind"
No wind that blew dismayed her crew
Or troubled the captain's mind
The man at the wheel was made to feel
Contempt for the wildest blow-ow-ow
Tho' it oft appeared when the gale had cleared
That he'd been in his bunk below

  So, blow ye winds, heigh-ho
  A-roving I will go
  I'll stay no more on England's shore
  So let the music play-ay-ay
  I'm off for the morning train
  To cross the raging main
  I'm off to my love with a boxing glove
  10,000 miles away

The bos'un's mate was very sedate
Yet fond of amusement too
He played hop-scotch with the starboard watch
While the captain tickled the crew
The gunner he was apparently mad
For he sat on the after ra-ra-rail
And fired salutes with the captain's boots
In the teeth of a booming gale

The captain sat on the commodore's hat
And dined in a royal way
Off pickles & figs & little roast pigs
And gunners bread each day
The cook was Dutch and behaved as such
For the diet he served the crew-ew-ew
Was a couple of tons of hot-cross buns
Served up with sugar and glue

Then we all fell ill as mariners will
On a diet that's rough and crude
And we shivered and shook as we dipped the cook
In a tub of his gluesome food
All nautical pride we cast aside
And we ran the vessel asho-o-ore
On the Gulliby Isles where the poopoo smiles
And the rubbily ubdugs roar

Composed of sand was that favored land
And trimmed with cinnamon straws
And pink and blue was the pleasing hue
Of the ticke-toe teaser's claws
We sat on the edge of a sandy ledge
And shot at the whistling bee-ee-ee
While the rugabug bats wore waterproof hats
As they dipped in the shining sea

On rugabug bark from dawn till dark
We dined till we all had grown
Uncommonly shrunk when a Chinese junk
Came up from the Torrible Zone
She was stubby and square, but we didn't much care
So we cherrily put to sea-ea-ea
And we left all the crew of the junk to chew
On the bark of the rubabug tree

Video Links

Tom Glazer from "Rise Up Singing" (lots of fun)

Charles Szabo Music (includes lyrics, good for singing along)

Tom Chapin (also fun)

Bounding Main (acapella)  Lyrics here (This version is a bit faster and more rhythmic than some children's recordings.)

Glenn Yarbrough (This one is also a bit fast for beginners.)

Natalie Merchant (her tune is different, and she does not sing the chorus)

Glenda Jackson on The Muppet Show. (Please note that she makes very free with the boxing glove.)

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for May 2027: Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier

"Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier" is an Irish folk song that also became popular during the American War of Independence. Wikipedia notes that "The tune and lyrics are very similar to the 17th century Irish tune "Siúil A Rún" on which the song is based." Some versions include the chorus that sounds like "Shool a roo," but many do not (including most of those linked below). Peter, Paul and Mary featured the chorus and two of the verses in their 1963 recording "Gone the Rainbow."

Lyrics (as found here. You may wish to compare them with those on Mama Lisa's World. Many versions say "Buttermilk Hill" instead of "Portland Hill.")

With fife and drum he marched away
He would not heed what I did say
He'll not come back for many a day
Johnny has gone for a soldier

Chorus:
Shule shule shule shule agra
Sure a sure and he loves me
When he comes back he'll marry me
Johnny has gone for a soldier

I'll go up on Portland hill
And there I'll sit and cry my fill
And every tear should turn a mill
Johnny has gone for a soldier

I'll sell my rock, I'll sell my reel
I'll sell my flax and spinning wheel
To buy my love a sword of steel
Johnny has gone for a soldier

I'll dye my petticoats crimson red
Through the world I'll beg my bread
I'll find my love alive or dead
Johnny has gone for a soldier

Video Links

Suzy Bogguss (from The American Folk Songbook) Female vocalist, easy to follow

HistoryProductionAD Revolutionary War tribute video with soundtrack by James Taylor and violinist Mark O'Connor.

James Taylor and Mark O'Connor. Same recording but without the visuals.

Szabo Music (includes lyrics) Male vocalist with piano.

Gentle Eyes. Female vocalist with guitar.

Kronos Quartet. More for listening than for singalong, but really beautiful.

Film clip from Sharpe's Battle (2006) Short but poignant.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for April 2027: Sourwood Mountain

 "Sourwood Mountain" is an American folk song. It is usually associated with Appalachia, but there are New England versions as well. It is written in rhyming couplets, with nonsense lines added between them. 

Those who have read Catherine Marshall's novel Christy may remember the scene where Christy, the new teacher at a mountain school, asks the children what songs they know, and this is what they sing for her.

Someone in the room went “Fa-sol-la” to give the pitch and they were off, the singing quite out of my hands:

“I’ve got a gal in the Sourwood Moun-tain

She’s so good and kind,

She’s broke the heart of many a poor fellow,

But she’s never broke this-un of mine.”

Brown feet tapped softly, fingers drummed on desks, heads wagged to the rhythm. Some of the boys and girls even sang parts. I could see that these mountain children had music in them. (p. 72)

 

Lyrics, as published here. You may want to compare them with these.

Chickens a-crowin' on Sourwood Mountain,
  Hey, ho, diddle-um day.
So many pretty girls I can't count 'em,
  Hey ho, diddle-um day.

My true love's a blue-eyed daisy,
She won't come and I'm too lazy.

Big dog bark and little one bite you,
Big girl court and little one spite you.

My true love's a blue-eyed daisy,
If I don't get her, I'll go crazy.

My true love lives at the head of the holler,
She won't come and I won't foller.

My true love lives over the river,
A few more jumps and I'll be with her.

[Optional last verse!]

Ducks in the pond, geese in the ocean,
Devil's in the women if they take a notion.

Video Links

Charles Szabo Music (includes lyrics)

The Osborne Brothers

Sugar Creek Bluegrass (kids)

Carolina Chocolate Drops

Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina, 1962

Andy Griffith

CMS Choir (6th graders)

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for March 2027: Down By the Salley Gardens

"Down By the Salley Gardens" is a poem by William Butler Yeats set to music. In an earlier post about this song, Wendi Capehart wrote:

"Yeats published this in 1889 in his The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems. He said [it was] 'an attempt to reconstruct an old song from three lines imperfectly remembered by an old peasant woman in the village of Ballisodare, Sligo, who often sings them to herself.'"

The title is sometimes misspelled Sally Gardens. It refers to a romantic meeting place where willow trees (called "sallies" or "sallow," derived from the Irish word saileach) grew.

Lyrics

Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;

She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.

She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;

But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

 

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,

And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.

She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;

But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

Video Links

Maura O'Connell with Karen Matheson (Female vocalists accompanied by traditional instruments)

Peter Hollens Male vocalist. (The last minute or so is a message from the artist)

John McCormack, a famous Irish tenor. Recorded in 1941.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for February 2027: Uist Tramping Song

The "Uist Tramping Song", "Null do dh'Uidhist" (Over to Uist) or "Tiugainn Leam" (Come With Me) is a traditional Scottish folk song. It tells about hiking to Uist, the central group of islands in the Outer Hebrides--but it could sung on any long walk.

Uist is pronounced "YOO-ist" or "OO-ist."

Lyrics (from Celtic Lyrics)

Come along, come along, let us foot it out together
Come along, come along, be it fair or stormy weather
With the hills o' home before us and the purple o' the heather
We'll sing a happy chorus, come along

Oh now gaily sings the lark and the sky is awake
With the promise of the day as the road we gladly take
It's heel and toe and forward bidding farewell to the town
And the welcome that awaits us ere the sun goes down

Come along, come along, let us foot it out together
Come along, come along, be it fair or stormy weather
With the hills o' home before us and the purple o' the heather
We'll sing a happy chorus, come along

It's the smell of sea and shore, it's the tang of bog and peat
It's the scent of brier and myrtle that puts magic in your feet
So home we go rejoicing over bracken over stile
And soon we will be footing out that last long mile

Come along, come along, let us foot it out together
Come along, come along, be it fair or stormy weather
With the hills o' home before us and the purple o' the heather
We'll sing a happy chorus, come along

Come along, come along, let us foot it out together
Come along, come along, be it fair or stormy weather
With the hills o' home before us and the purple o' the heather
We'll sing a happy chorus, come along

(Another set of lyrics can be found here.)

Video Links

The Corries. Short, peppy, and clearly sung.

The Mill Weavers a.k.a. The Great Scottish Sing-a-Long Party. Mixed chorus.

David Solley. Male vocalist.

Ed Miller. A little more laid back, but still cheerful--includes guitar.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for November 2026: The Rising of the Moon

"The Rising of the Moon" is a ballad about a battle between the United Irishmen, led by Wolfe Tone, against British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.  Even if you don't know the lyrics of this Irish song, you may recognize the tune as the more familiar "The Wearing of the Green."

A vocabulary note: "The Irish Gaelic word mbuachaill (meaning "boy" after certain prepositions) is pronounced approximately moo-khill or mwukh-ill."

Lyrics 

[Verse 1]

"And come tell me Sean O'Farrell, tell me why you hurry so"

"Hush, mbuachaill, hush and listen," and his cheeks were all aglow

"I bear orders from the captain, get you ready quick and soon

For the pikes must be together at the rising of the moon"

[Chorus]

At the rising of the moon, at the rising of the moon

For the pikes must be together at the rising of the moon

[Verse 2]

"And come tell me Sean O'Farrell, where the gathering is to be"

"At the old spot by the river; quite well known to you and me"

"One more word for signal token; whistle out the marching tune

With your pike upon your shoulder at the rising of the moon"

[Chorus]

At the rising of the moon, at the rising of the moon

With your pike upon your shoulder at the rising of the moon

[Verse 3]

Out from many a mud wall cabin; eyes were watching through the night

Many a manly heart was beating for the blessed warning light

Murmurs rang along the valleys to the banshee's lonely croon

And a thousand pikes were flashing by the rising of the moon 

[Chorus]

By the rising of the moon, by the rising of the moon

And a thousand pikes were flashing by the rising of the moon

[Verse 4]

All along that singing river that black mass of men was seen

High above their shining weapons flew their own beloved green

Death to every foe and traitor! Whistle out the marching tune

And hurrah, me boys, for freedom, 'tis the rising of the moon

[Chorus]

'Tis the rising of the moon, 'tis the rising of the moon

And hurrah, me boys, for freedom, 'tis the rising of the moon

 

Video Links

Na Casaidigh with the popular Irish song about the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland. Na Casaidigh or The Cassidys are a traditional Irish family band from the Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore) Gaeltacht in County Donegal.

The Dubliners' version

Peter, Paul & Mary: this version uses a different tune, so it is probably best saved for extra listening.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for January 2027: Skye Boat Song

"Skye Boat Song" began as a Gaelic love song, but it became more popular in the late 19th century, with new English lyrics by Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet. The new version told the story of Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") as he travelled to the Isle of Skye in an attempt to evade capture by the English (after his 1746 defeat in battle).

Wikipedia notes that "The song was not in any older books of Scottish songs, though it is in most collections like The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. It is often sung as a lullaby, in a slow rocking 6:8 time."

Some listeners will want to know who "Flora" is. Flora MacDonald tried to assist Charles (by disguising him as her maid during the boat trip), but she was later caught and imprisoned for her part in the escape attempt. She and her husband emigrated to North Carolina in 1774.

Lyrics

[Chorus:]
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be king
Over the sea to Skye.

1. Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.

[Chorus]

2. Many's the lad, fought on that day
Well the claymore did wield;
When the night came, silently lay
Dead on Culloden's field.

[Chorus]

3. Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean's a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.

A Second Set of Lyrics

Robert Louis Stevenson did not care for Boulton's lyrics, and wrote his own in 1892, as follows:

[Chorus:]

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.

1. Mull was astern, Rum on the port,
Eigg on the starboard bow;
Glory of youth glowed in his soul;
Where is that glory now?

[Chorus]

2. Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone!
Give me the eyes, give me the soul,
Give me the lad that's gone!

[Chorus]

3. Billow and breeze, islands and seas,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone

Video Links (mostly to Boulton's version)

Jesse Ferguson with mandolin.

Glasgow1234 version: a female vocalist with lyrics

You cannot lose with The Corries. (Includes lyrics)

Rod Stewart (only part of the video is the Skye Boat Song)

Roger Whittaker (includes whistling)

Sinéad O'Connor - The Skye Boat Song (Stevenson's Version) | Outlander: Season 7

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for September 2026: The Bold Grenadier

The Bold Grenadier is also known as "One Morning in May" or "The Brave Volunteer." It is an English folk song dating back to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, but has it also been sung in North America. There are many variations of the song, some of which are more family-friendly than others.(Please be warned.) 

In an earlier post about this song, Wendi Capehart noted the following:

"[Some] versions begin 'one morning, one morning, one morning in May...' I've read that this is typical of the American versions, and the 'a-walking one morning in May' is more typical of those sung in the British Isles.

"Some refer to the brave volunteer rather than the bold grenadier. Both are soldiers, According to Wikipedia, the grenadiers were first established in the 17th century. Chosen from the largest and strongest soldiers, their primary function was throwing grenades. Over time the grenadiers retained their elite status, but were no longer strictly associated with grenade throwing."

The lyrics that Wendi chose(below) match those sung by Hannah James on the 2006 CD  "Links," by the folk band Kerfuffle.

Lyrics

As I was a-walking one morning in May 

I spied a young couple a-making of hay. 

Oh, one was a fair maid, and her beauty shone clear, 

And the other was a soldier, a bold grenadier.

 

  "Good morning, Good morning, Good morning," said he.

 "Oh, where are you a-going, my pretty lady?" 

"I am going for a walk, by the clear crystal stream, 

To see cool waters glide and hear nightingales sing.:

 

They had not been there but an hour or two, 

When out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew 

And the tune that he played made the valleys to ring. 

"Hark! Hark!" cried the lady, "hear the nightingales sing." 

 

 Kind soldier, kind soldier, will you marry me? 

Oh no, my sweet lady that never can be,

 I've a good wife at home, in my own country, 

Two wives and the army's too many for me.

 

As I was a walking one morning in May, 

I spied a young couple a-making of hay. 

Oh, one was a fair maid and her beauty shone clear;

And the other was a soldier, a bold grenadier. 

Video Links

Isla Cameron singing (offscreen) in the 1967 film Far From the Madding Crowd. Although the video begins with scenes of a graveyard, there is nothing else to worry about in the film footage. The audio is clear and easy to follow, and the lyrics are included on the YouTube page.

Kerfuffle performing their version of the Bold Grenadier. Sadly, this is not a great-quality video, but it is included so that you can hear how that group sang it.

Gabriele Kohl singing a fairly short version.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for October 2026: Home On the Range

The Wikipedia page for this American folk song refers to it as the unofficial anthem of the American West. It is also the Kansas state song. It is credited to Dr. Brewster M. Higley (or Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, who wrote the words as the poem "My Western Home" somewhere between 1871-1873. However, the origins of the song have been debated. As noted on the Wikipedia page, the song has been used everywhere from Bugs Bunny cartoons to cowboy shows and Christmas movies.

In an earlier post about this song, Wendi Capehart wrote this:

"I think it's kind of interesting that this song and "The Road to Gundagai" express similar sentiments- a nostalgic longing and love for home. There are a lot of lyrics to this one, as with most folk songs. Here [below] are some (selected from those in the 1916 Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads)."

Lyrics

 A HOME ON THE RANGE

 OH give me a home where the buffalo roam,
 Where the deer and the antelope play,
 Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
 And the skies are not cloudy all day

CHORUS:

Home,  home on the range!
Where the deer and the antelope play.
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light
That I would not exchange my home on the range
 For all of the cities so bright

(Chorus)

How often at night, when the heavens are bright
With the light from the glittering stars ,
Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceeds that of ours.
  

Video Links

Roy Rogers' version.

Gene Autry sings another classic cowboy version.

Burl Ives: basic but always good.

The Countdown Kids: a children's version with animation

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline.