Non-Scottish fans of the hit TV series “Outlander” might be interested to know that there is an older and historical version of the haunting theme song.
Brief Background about the “Outlander” TV Series
The “Outlander” plot started when a British military nurse named Claire Randall went with her husband on a trip to Scotland to find out more about his Scottish ancestors. However, fate brought her to a stone that swept Claire into a time travel, bringing her back to a period when then England’s Prince Charles Edward Stuart was attempting to regain his father Jame Francis Stuart’s sovereign rule over the British Empire.
From “The Skye Boat Song” to “Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone.”
“The Skye Boat Song,” the original composition of the “Outlander” theme song, was inspired by the period in which Scottish supporters of Prince Charles launched uprisings. Composed by Sir Harold Boulton, the lyrics described Prince Charles’ escape to Skye Island while riding a boat disguised as a maid servant.
CHORUS: Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing, Onward! the sailors cry; Carry the lad that’s born to be king, Over the sea to Skye
However, years later Robert Louis Stevenson used text from his 1892 poem “Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone” to change the original lyrics. Stevenson’s version became the more popular composition; the same one used as theme song by the “Outlander” TV series which changed Lad to Lass in relating the song to Claire Randall Fraser’s journey through history.
CHORUS:”Sing me a song of a lass that is gone Say, could that lass be I? Merry of soul she sailed on a day, over the sea to Skye