Here’s my song for St Andrew’s day: Loch Lomond, the traditional song first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland. There are many theories about the origins of the song, most of which link to the Jacobite rising of 1745. The “high road” in question is seen as the main road between London and Edinburgh where the heads of the executed rebels were exhibited and the interpretation of the “low road” which I like best is that it was the underground route taken by the fairies or ‘little people’ accompanying the souls of dead Scots who died in foreign lands (England in this case!) back to the homeland to rest in peace.

Loch Lomond has been recorded by hundreds of performers, and the song has also become the unofficial anthem of Scottish band Runrig and have closed their concerts with it for over 25 years. My version is definitely not particularly Runrig in style, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

There are lots more Scottish songs in my collection here, and you can also have a look at my album of Scottish tunes. This one hasn’t made it into that collection yet, but it may do in the future if it goes down well! If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about the 365 Songs project or see all of my November songs here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/loch-lomond