"Capernaum" is a poem by Lewis Spence (1874-1955), which was set to music by Ed Miller and appears on his album, Border Background (1989). Miller’s arrangement is also the title song on the Tannahill Weaver’s album, Capernaum (1994).
I own both of those albums, and it’s a catchy song, so it gets stuck in my head a lot. But there’s a lot to the lyrics that I was having trouble following; so here’s my Annotated Capernaum:
If a’ the bluid shed at thy Tron1
If all the blood shed at your Tron1
Embro', Embro'
Edinburgh, Edinburgh
If a’ the bluid shed at thy Tron
Were sped intae a river
Were sped into a river
It would ca’2 the mills o' Bonnington
It would drive2 the mills of Bonnington
Embro', Embro'
It would ca’ the mills of Bonnington
For ever and for ever
If a’ the tears that thou hast grat3
If all the tears that you have wept3
Embro', Embro'
If a’ the tears that thou hast grat
Were shed intae the sea
Were shed into the sea
Whar wid ye find an Ararat
Where would you (plural) find an Ararat4
Embro', Embro'
Whar wid ye find an Ararat
Frae that fell flude tae flee?
From that fell flood to flee?
If a' the psalms sung in thy kirks
If all the psalms sung in your churches
Embro', Embro'
If a' the psalms sung in thy kirks
Were gaithered in a wynd
Were gathered in a wind
It wid shaw4 the tops o’ Roslin’s birks
It would reveal5 the tops of Roslin’s birches
Embro', Embro'
It wid shaw the tops o’ Roslin’s birks
Till time was oot o’ mind.
Till time was out of mind.
If a’ the broken herts o’ thee
If all the broken hearts of you
Embro', Embro'
If a’ the broken herts o’ thee
Were heapit in a howe
Were heaped in a hollow
There wid be neither land nor sea
Embro', Embro'
There wid be neither land nor sea
But yon reid brae6 and thou.
Except that red hill5 and you.
Note 1: A tron is a medieval weighing station. The Tron is Tron Kirk of Edinburgh. I assume there was a tron at the location before the church was built.
Note 2: ca’ is equivalent to call, but in Scots, it can mean "to drive" or "to push" as well as "to call". Compare "Ca' the yowes" = "Drive the ewes".
Note 3: grat is the past tense of greet, an archaic verb meaning to "cry, weep, lament". (Related to regret; no relation to greet meaning "to address someone")
Note 4: Ararat, the resting place of Noah's Ark. Note, this is a version of the same name as Urartu, which some people might know from Mesopotamian history.
Note 5: I’ve struggled with this word far more than anything else in the poem. My current preferred reading is that this is the shaw that is the equivalent of English show; i.e. it would make to tops of the trees visible, presumably by blowing the leaves off.
Note 6: brae is cognate to brow, but in Scots generally refers to a hill (or hillside, or steep gradient, or upland region). See also "Thomas the Rhymer":
"And see ye not yon bonny road
That winds about the fernie brae?
That is the Road to fair Elfland,
Where thou and I this night maun gae."
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