> Folk Music > Songs > Fly We to Some Desert Isle

Fly We to Some Desert Isle

[ Roud V20460 ; Robert Tannahill]

Emily Smith sang Fly We to Some Desert Isle in 2006 on the Brechin All anthology The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill Volume I.

Jim and Susie Malcolm sang Fly We tae Some Desert Isle on Jim’s 2011 CD Sparkling Flash. He noted:

Tannahill, a contemporary of Burns, deserves to be better known. Dr Fred Freeman has been recording all his songs, and my wife Susie fell for this romantic number.

Luc McNally sang Fly We to Some Desert Isle on his 2020 album Night Off.

Lyrics

Jim and Susie Malcolm sing Fly We tae Some Desert Isle

Fly we tae some desert isle,
There we’ll pass our days thegither.
Shun the world’s derisive smile,
Wand’ring tenants o’ the heather.
Sheltered in some lanely glen,
Far removed frae mortal ken
Forget the selfish ways o men
Nor feel a wish beyond each other.

Though my friens deride me still,
Jamie I’ll disown thee never.
Let them scorn me as they will
I’ll be thine and thine forever.
What are a’ my kin tae me,
A’ their pride o pedigree,
What were life if wanting thee
And what were death if we maun sever.

Fly we tae some desert isle
There we’ll pass our days thegither
Shun the world’s derisive smile
Wand’ring tenants o’ the heather
What are a’ my kin tae me,
A’ their pride o pedigree,
What were life if wanting thee
And what were death if we maun sever.