“The Arran Boat Song” is a traditional Scottish melody named for the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde. It appeared in print in Scottish tune collections in the late nineteenth century, though the melody itself is older, and it has carried a number of alternate titles over the years, including “Queen Mary’s Escape from Loch Leven Castle.”
The piece is a slow air, usually played in 3/4 time and often in a minor key. It is a gentle, lyrical listening tune rather than a brisk dance number — the kind of melody valued for its quiet, song-like beauty. It has long circulated among fiddlers in the Celtic tradition.
This recording presents the tune in a gentle acoustic arrangement on the album “Autumn in Eastport,” carrying a centuries-old Scottish air into a contemporary string-music setting.
