Portree Kid lyrics

A man came ridin' oot the west

one wild and stormy day

He was quiet lean and hungry,

his eyes were smoky grey

He was lean across the hurdies

but his shooders they were big

The terror o' the Hielan glens,

that was The Portree Kid

(chorus)

He drum ho, he drum hey

The teuchter that cam frae Skye

(chorus)

His sidekick was an orra' man

and oh but he was mean

He was ca'd The Midnight Plough-Boy

and he cam fae Aberdeen

He had twenty seven notches

on his cromack so they say

And killed a million Indians,

way up in Stornoway

Portree booted in the door,

he sauntered tae the bar

He poured a shot o' crabbies,

he shouted "Slainte Mhath"

While midnight was being chatted up

by a bar room girl called Pam

Who said well howdy stranger,

would you buy's a babycham

Now over in the corner sat

three men fae Auchtertool

They were playing games for money,

in a snakes and ladders school

The fourth man was a southerner

who'd come up from Macmerry

He'd been a river gambler,

on the Ballachulish Ferry

(chorus)

Portree walked tae the table

and he shouted shake me in

He shoogled on the eggcup,

he gave the dice a spin

He threw seven sixes in a row

and the game was nearly done

But then he landed on a snake,

and finished on square one

The game was nearly over

and Portree was daein fine

He'd landed on a ladder,

he was up tae forty nine

He only had but one to go

and the other man was beat

But the gambler couped the board off,

and shouted you're a cheat

Men dived behind the rubber plants

to try and save their skins

The accordionist stopped playing,

his sidekick dropped the spoons

He says I think its funny,

you've been up that ladder twice

And ye a'ways dunt the table,

when I go to throw my dice

(chorus)

The gambler drew his Sgian Dubh

as fast as lightning speed

Portree grabbed a screwtop,

he cracked him o'er the heid

Then he gave him laldy

wi' a salmon off the wall

And he finished off the business,

wi' his lucky grousefoot's claw

Portree walked up tae the bar,

he says I'll hae a half

And d'ye like the way I stuck it

on that wee Macmerry nyaff

But the Southerner crept up behind

his features wracked wi' pain

And gubbed him wi' an ashtray,

made oot o' a curling stane

The fight went raging on all night

till opening time next day

Wi' a break for soup and stovies

aff a coronation tray

It was getting kind o' obvious,

that neither man would win

When came the shout that stopped it all,

there's a bus trip comin' in

(chorus)

They sing this song in Galashiels

and up by Peterheid

Way down o'er the border,

across the Rio Tweed

But what became o' Portree,

Midnight and the gamblin' man,

They opened up a gift shop

selling fresh air in a can

(chorus)

Frae Skye

Frae Skye

Frae Skye

Frae Skye

• Artist:The Corries