Canadian Migration Patterns from Britain and North America

Songs of Love and Longing: Songs of Migration

Songs of Love and Longing: Songs of Migration Karen Clavelle I'm leaving Loch Leven I'm leaving this heaven I'm going to aforeign shore My fortune for to seek.^ SONGS, LIKE POETRY, WRITTENFOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, EXPRESS AND often poignantly expose sentiments held close to the heart. For some of us, songs speak the unspeakable—express the desires or heart­ ache that we are otherwise perhaps unwilling to acknowledge even to ourselves, never mind reveal to others. Perhaps history should begin with the voices of the people who, one by one, together, form a chorus of what becomes history. Wetend to read, or in the past have read and generally accepted, history as a litany of big events or discoveries: military, scientific, medical, technological, and political. We have en­ countered battles won and lost, named famous people living and dead, reported events in the lives oftyrants, saviours, saints, and sinners. But every one of those "discoveries," without exception, arises out of the lives of ordinary people. Those common people, whose lives are hid­ den, become part of the collective stories that they helped to shape through their expressions of love and loss, joy and pain. It is to their experience that we now turn. The words that introduced this paper, I'm leaving Loch Leven, ex­ press a sentiment surely felt by thousands upon thousands of immi­ grants, wrapped in little more than hope, as they bid tearful farewell to their homeland. Although most of those who left would never again return home, neither would they ever forget their ties to the homeland, as many of these songs indicate.2 264 Karen Clavelle Why people would leave home is a complex question to which there are myriad answers: the pursuit of adventure or employment, fear of persecution, avoidance of political troubles, family problems, love or pursuit ofit, and combinations of these. Whatbegs an answer is: how do they feel upon arriving in a new place? What about those they left behind? How do people cope with feelings of love and longing, joy and grief? What do the very simple lyrics of some of their poetry and melodies reveal? The approach of this paper is literary, rather than ethnological or historical; its primary concern is to identify the position of the speaker and the emotions revealed in the text of each piece. The appendix to this paper contains the words to all the songs cited. Speculation about the songs, and the people behind them, has also been included. The issue ofwho writes the songs and for what reasons—to express loss, hope, or a sense of being relatively "okay"—relates to the experi­ ence of being exiles, emigrants, or expatriates. These categories are important because the element of choice, which informs the distinc­ tions, has a great deal to do with one's happiness or potential happiness abroad. Table 1names in two ways the songs examined, and allows us to begin classifying. The categories, for our purposes, are defined as follows: Exiles: those forced to leave their homes for reasons beyond their control; in a position ofassent as opposed to consent. They are forced to leave and to resettle. If their skills areinadequate in the new world, they have little choice but toadapt. Returning is not an option. Emigrants: those who choose to leave and resettle, possibly for political or economic reasons which are a factor in whether they return; the position is one of consent. If their skills are inadequate they adapt, perhaps banking on returning home at some point. Expatriates: those who chose freely to leave, and may as freely return.If their skills are inadequate they adapt; if they are unhappy, they leave. Table 2 attempts a loose classification of the pieces as love songs or laments; speculates on whether they were written for entertainment or historical purposes; and infers the gender, age, and impulse behind each song. We begin an examination of the songs with Charming Sally Greer, a mid­nineteenth­century tale of a young Ulster Scot turned out of his parents' home and sent to Americato seek his fortune in an apparently unveiled attempt to force him away from his sweetheart. This is a case of exile.Although the lad leaves home over love, he clearly gets adven­ ture in the bargain. En route to Quebec, he spends twelve days ship­ Songs of Love and Longing: Songs of Migration 265...