Davie Cameron (Prestonpans)

[intro - slow, intimate, unaccompanied] When ma da gied me his sword he said "Young Davie, carry her well And she'll serve ye Like she did me afore" [verse - building, pipes entering] Ma hand is sweating on the hilt But the rough skin says haud fast tae me The pipes shriek in ma ears The drums speak tae ma bones And let the Sassenach know What's coming doon the hill [build - urgent, pipes and drums rising] Cameron's on! Ah YEE-ah— [verse - fast, chaotic, breathless] The line moves, slow then fast Bare feet feel the earth The corn slaps hard across ma face The howl starts low Then it's everything Then it's oot ma throat tae And I'm just— [verse - intense, fragmented, pipes and drums at full] Screaming through the corn I see their lines ahead A cloud of stinking smoke A snap flies by ma head Màthair, I think they're firin' [verse - brutal, driving] Targe up, a bayonet slides Ma faither's sword swings wide She finds the neck, he finds the ground She kens her work, she bites him deep [break - single line, spoken, drums stop] Easier than slaughtering a cow [verse - fragmented, instinctive, drums resume] Ah YEE-ah — come low — dirk up Dinnae feel it go in Something warm upon ma hand Then past him, past him, run [verse - suddenly quiet, pipes fading, aftermath] And then there's naebody Jist clansmen and corn and sky The field is fou o' fleeing men Wi' none left but the dying [verse - elated, communal, pipes swelling] Ma kinsmen's arms around me The roar goes up the hill Chlanna nan Con! And we've taken the field [outro - slow, intimate, unaccompanied, single drone fading] Ma hand is dark and wet The rough skin still beneath ma grip Haud fast She served me Like she did me da afore