A tune written for my son Malcolm and  Linzi Searl's wedding in 2022 at Sorn Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Malcolm and Linzi's Wedding

When First I Came to Caledonia from the estimable collection called Songs & Stories from Deep Cove, Cape Breton [by Amby Thomas, Sydney, Cape Breton: Cape Breton Press, 1979; there the song has the titles When I First Went to Caledonia]. Caledonia is the name of a pit, number three seam. Scatarie is an island abandoned by people whose fishing has dried up and is still uninhabited today. Boularderie is the name of that part of the community where all the rich people live and whence comes the woman with whom the character in the song falls blazingly in love at first sight. All he needed.
I may have tinkered with the original tune a wee bit.

When First I Came To Caledonia

We learnt this song from the singing of friends ( Lynne Muir, John Munro and Denis Tracey) in Australia years ago and have recently re-discovered it.  We sing it with our friend Liz Conway in our trio Midsummer Blue. Will add duclimer later as this is just a rough recording. 
Wandering the quiet lanes around the village it is hard to imagine that in the 18th-century it was the headquarters for a notorious band of thieves. Known as the Culworth Gang, this disreputable bunch terrorised locals and other villages until they were later rounded up by the law. They remain immortalised in a song by local folk musician, Stuart Marson: 'Close to the Wind'.
http://www.culworthvillage.co.uk/of-interest/the-culworth-gang/

When First I Came To Caledonia

John Bushby

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