I wrote this song for my auntie Margaret who emigrated to Canada.
She left Macduff, Scotland for Canada as a young woman around 1960. Initially, it was just for a trip at the advice of her parents for a change of scene to broaden her horizons. There were not many opportunities in Macduff out-with fishing, farming or making whisky. Margaret was to stay in Toronto for a while with a Scottish aunt who had immigrated previously. Margaret’s parents (my Grandparents) thought it was a good thing for her to do but had no idea that she’d decide to settle there and spend the rest of her life in Toronto. She still makes as many trips back as she can to visit her Scottish family. Both sides of our family try to stay in touch and visit as we can but the distance, time and expense in travelling make it difficult for all. This song is kind of melancholy, but the bright side is Margaret’s new life in Toronto paid off. Few people in Scotland manage to enjoy the standard of life that can be enjoyed in Canada. As much as we all miss her and the rest of the new Canadian family, we know that Margaret made the best choice if she even had one.
Macduff Maggie Sheet Music for this song is available free in my Sheet Music Library
Lyrics: Macduff Maggie
©Charlie Abel 2020
In a little wee toon by the sea
I imagine a red ringlet girl start to leave,
Mummy sends her good cheers
with her eyes full of tears
though her trip
would turn out to be years.
Her two eyes of blue
they would smile at you
like the light o’er the sea
on a fine summer’s day
She’s our Macduff Maggie,
She’s Margaret my auntie,
Our lassie far over the sea.
Destiny pulled her
Across a great Ocean
our lassie left over the sea.
Goodbye to her past
As the memories run fast
of her own folks
and the things she had seen.
Her two eyes of blue
they would smile at you
like the light o’er the sea
on a fine summer’s day
She’s our Macduff Maggie,
She’s Margaret my auntie,
Our lassie far over the sea.
Her Daddy all tattered and torn
after years
he had spent on the sea,
through the war.
He looks down through his glass,
for his bonnie wee lass
but his Maggie has grown up and flown.
Oor lassie fared well
in that far distant land
met in with the love of her life
They have kids of their own
and a really sweet home
and now she’s a grandmother too.
Her two eyes of blue
they would smile at you
like the light o’er the sea
on a fine summer’s day
She’s our Macduff Maggie,
She’s Margaret my auntie,
Our lassie far over the sea.
Yet her dreams cast her over the sea
to that land,
full of voices and smiles of the past
she’s a tear in her eye
for the time now passed by
her heart sinks,
which trip may be the last.
Her two eyes of blue
they would smile at you
like the light o’er the sea
on a fine summer’s day
She’s our Macduff Maggie,
She’s Margaret my auntie,
Our lassie far over the sea.
