Away to the westward I'm longing to be
Where the beauties of heaven unfold by the sea
Where the sweet purple heather blooms fragrant and free
On a hilltop high above the Dark Island
Oh, Isle of my childhood
I'm dreaming of thee
As the steamer leaves Oban
And passes Tiree
Soon I'll capture the magic
That lingers for me
When I'm back once more upon
The Dark Island
So gentle the sea breeze that ripples the bay
Where the stream joins the ocean and the young children play
On the strand of pure silver I'll welcome each day
And I'll roam forever more the Dark Island
True gem of the Hebrides bathed in the light
Of the midsummer dawning that follows the night
How I yearn for the cry of the seagulls in flight
As they circle above the Dark Island
This karaoke is an arrangement of the original music
"Dr Mackay's Farewell to Creagorry" -
Lyrics are by David Silver, 1963.
THE DARK ISLAND
Activities for English, Geography and Music:
- Design a QUIZ. Look at QUIZ and ORCHESTRA for upload link.
- Listen to Dark Island. Hum along, or sing with the lyrics.
- Listen to episode 1, BBC Radio,1969 theme tune and story (link below).
- Learn to play Dark Island with Video2 for piano, keyboard, pipe organ.
- Write a story about a mysterious torpedo found on shore of The Island.
- Follow the score of The Dark Island with (oboe) melody line, chord sequence and guitar TAB by davidbass.
- When familiar with versions of the song, plan your own arrangement.
- Name two Scottish place names in the lyrics of Dark Island.
- Look at Slideshares ‘Where’s Scotland’ by mjgomis and ‘Scotland’.
- Write a GUESTBOOK comment about your activity.
- Landscapes ‘ by Emerito Razon. Here are place names for some of the scenic photos:
Flag of Scotland; the thistle; coins and notes; St Andrews golf course; Celtic Park and Ibrox stadiums, Glasgow; the bagpipes; Edinburgh Military Tattoo; haggis and oatcakes; whisky; kilts; tartan; Stirling Castle; Wallace Monument; Doune Castle; Inveraray Castle; Oban; Dunollie Castle; Isle of Skye; Urquhart Castle; Inverness Castle; Cawdor Castle; Aberdeen; Edinburgh Castle; The Royal Mile; Holyrood Palace; Glasgow Cathedral;
Road to Sheildaig; Corgarff Castle; Glenfinnan Viaduct; Glencoe; Glen Finglas; Old Man of Storr; Cuillin Mountains; Heather; Glen Affric; Glencoe; Airthrey Castle; Loch Ness; Castle Stalker; Eileen Donan Castle; Dunnottar Castle; Loch Awe; Kilchurn Castle; Slains Castle; Pitlochry; Dunrobin Castle; Knapps Loch; Glen Etive; River Etive; Loch Achanalt; Loch Tulla; Lochaber; Neist Point; Red Quillins; Loch Knockie; Rannoch Moor; Loch Lomond; Culzean Castle; Wester Ross; Portree; Preston Mill; Kelvinbridge; Falkirk Wheel; Firth of Forth Bridge.
Karaoke Style Backing Track
Public Domain MIDI, attributed to Will Stewart
An educational version of Steinberg Cubase was used to edit the MIDI including use of VST instrumentation, transposition, panning, tempo, volume levels, melody, note values, rhythms, audio conversion.
The Dark Island -
Radio adaptation -
Setting of series -
The Island -
Filming -
Theme tune
The Dark Island Episode 1 1969
Original BBC Radio Broadcast Date: 1969
Nigel Gatherer has compiled a page for Dark Island where you can hear audio and download scores in G major and A major; Standard notation, TAB for Mandolin, Whistle & Ukulele, Cello part, MP3 (mandolin).
Have fun with MIDI
There are many free MIDI programs that you can download from the Internet. Here is a screenshot of the organ that comes with the free version of Hauptwerk Virtual Pipe Organ.
The sound in the example has been created by sending the melody channel to be played by ‘Flûte harmonique 8’ on Grand Orgue, two more channels to Flûte 8 on Récit Expressif, and the bass channel to Bourdon 8 and Flûte 8 on pédale. Why not give this a try? Download some MIDI files, select your favourite, experiment with sounds from your sequencer / sampler. Hauptwerk Virtual Pipe Organ may not be the obvious choice for your sounds, but this is all about having fun with MIDI!
Some keen organists have been able to build working instruments with manuals and pedalboard, especially for home practice! The example below is from David Glover -
Video2
The Dark Island MIDI is played with sampled sounds of the St. Jean-
The pipe organ sample set was created by Piotr Grabowski for Hauptwerk. On his website you will be able to find many virtual pipe organ sample sets, including photos of the instruments.
St. Jean-
