Around the Clyde: Strone

Showing posts with label Strone. Show all posts

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Strone

We had a lovely sunny day for a drive around to Strone and beyond. All my photos were taken on the pier, sadly derelict now for many years, although it was once a regular stop for Clyde steamers. Strone is very close to Kilmun (see my previous blog) and is where the north shore of the Holy Loch becomes the west shore of the Firth of Clyde.

Above, an old photo of Strone on a postcard, from around the early 1900s

SONG OF THE CLYDE

"I sing of a river I'm happy beside
The song that I sing is a song of the Clyde
Of all Scottish rivers it’s dearest to me
It flows from Leadhills all the way to the sea
It borders the orchards of Lanark so fair
Meanders through meadows with sheep grazing there
But from Glasgow to Greenock, in towns on each side
The hammers’ ding-dong is the song of the Clyde

(Chorus)
Oh the river Clyde, the wonderful Clyde
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride
And I'm satisfied whate'er may betide
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde

Imagine we’ve left Craigendoran behind
And wind-happy yachts by Kilcreggan we find
At Kirn and Dunoon and Innellan we stay
Then Scotland’s Madeira that’s Rothesay, they say
Or maybe by Fairlie and Largs we will go
Or over to Millport that thrills people so
Maybe journey to Arran it can't be denied
Those scenes all belong to the song of the Clyde

When sun sets on dockland, there’s beauty to see
The cry of a seabird is music to me
The blast of a horn loudly echoes, and then
A stillness descends on the water again
'Tis here that the sea-going liners are born
But unlike the salmon, they seldom return
Can you wonder the Scots o’er the ocean so wide
Should constantly long for the song of the Clyde?"

The first song I learnt to sing from memory! I don't know who wrote it though I've heard it sung by many well known singers. Here is a link to it sung by Kenneth McKellar (over a great video)!