The Peat-Fire Flame is a Scottish folk song believed to have originated in the rugged Hebrides Island. Throughout Ireland and Scotland, people would go to the bogs to dig up chunks of peat to dry and burn for light and heat. After a day of honest work, the common folk would gather round their peat-fire hearth and, to the dancing light of the warm flames, they would weave stories and tales that would live on in the imagination for generations. The melody brings to mind thoughts of stories and heroes, and captures the poetic Celtic spirit.
Peat is still used today to heat homes, and the earthy aroma of a peat-fire will often conjure memories of the Scottish highlands or Irish greens. A tramping song for long walks, the tune itself is an antiquated reel going back centuries. The English lyrics, adaptated from the original Gaelic, were assembled by the Celtic poet Kenneth MacLeod. It is here sung by the Corries.
Lyrics:
Far away and o'er the moor,
Morar waits for a boat that saileth,
Far away down Lowland way,
I dream the dream I learned, lad.
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
Light for love, for lilt o' laughter,
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
The light the hill-folk yearn for.
Far away, down Lowland way,
Grim's the toil, without tune or dream, lad,
All you need's a creel and love,
For the dream the heart can weave, lad.
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
Light for love, for lilt o' laughter,
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
The light the hill-folk yearn for.
Far away the tramp and tread,
Tune and laughter of all the heroes,
Pulls me onward o'er the trail,
Of the dream my heart may weave, lad.
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
Light for love, for lilt o' laughter,
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
The light the hill-folk yearn for.
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