Sea Green Singers - The Slaves Lament - Robert Burns (late 1700’s) - To see an enlarged image, suitable for printing on A4 paper click on the image

1. It was in sweet Senegal that my foes did me enthral
For the lands of Virginia-ginia O
Torn from that lovely shore and must never see it more
And alas I am weary, weary O

2. All on that charming coast is no bitter snow and frost
Like the lands of Virginia-ginia O
There streams forever flow. and the flowers forever blow
And alas I am weary, weary O

3. The burden I must bear, white the cruel scourge I fear
In the lands of Virginia-ginia O
And I think on friends most dear, with a bitter, bitter tear
And alas I am weary, weary O

The Slave's Lament was written by Robert Burns in the late 1700s at the height of the slave trade. It has one of the most beautiful tunes I've ever sung, though I'm not certain of its roots: it's very different to the fiddle tunes Burns commonly used for his songs. I've written a break to use between verses and, as it's written to the same chord structure as the verses, it can also be used as an alternative backing for the verses.