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12-string Guitar: An Eriskay Love Lilt

2,369 views · Published 26 May 2009 · 3:34 · Indexed 26 September 2026

Channel: threelegsoman · 2009 · Music

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Eriskay,  from the Old Norse for "Eric's Isle", is an island of the Outer Hebrides in northern Scotland. It lies between South Uist and Barra and is connected to South Uist by a causeway which was opened in 2001. Like most of the Scottish Isles, it was one of the last bastions of the Scottish Gaelic and the chorus of this song is of that language, though the printed version is phonetic. Cruit mo chridh means harp of my heart and is pronounced crootch mo chree. The island of Eriskay  is three miles long by one and a half wide (5 km by 2.5 km). It is rocky and has poor soil but like the population has great charm, a rich history of Gaelic music and a footba' field. It was on this small island that Prince Charles Edward Stewart first set foot on Scottish soil at the start of the Rising in 1745. The bay where he landed is still called Prince's Bay. The song was first heard from Mary Macinnes of Eriskay and later adapted by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser and Kenneth MacLeod.
The Corries recorded their version of this lovely song, and it was most likely theirs that influenced me as in some versions the note for the first 'o' in each line is held longer.

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