Caledonia

Song Information

Composer: Dougie MacLean

Lyric Author: Dougie MacLean

Published: 1977

Country of origin: Scotland

General Interest

From Wikipedia:

MacLean wrote the song in less than 10 minutes on a beach in Brittany, France,^[4] feeling homesick for Scotland. He said: “I was in my early 20s and had been busking around with some Irish guys. I was genuinely homesick. I’d always lived in Perthshire. I played it to the guys when I got back to the youth hostel where we were staying and that was the final straw – we all went home the next day." He adds: "It took about 10 minutes but sometimes that’s how songs happen. I'm still amazed at how much it has become part of common culture. There’s not a pub singer, busker or pipe band that doesn’t play it." The song is very similar in its sentiments to a much earlier song called "Jean and Caledonia".^[5]

"Caledonia" was first recorded by its writer Dougie MacLean and published in his 1979 joint album credited to Alan Roberts and Doug MacLean that also carried the title Caledonia.^[6] MacLean plays the song in the key of E using Open C tuning with a capo on the 4th fret.

The word Caledonia is from the latin for Scotland.

Here's a link to the Lyric:

Caledonia Lyric

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