Keepers

Nick Keir

Ardnamurchan, Loch Indaal, Rattray Head The isle of May ,
Not an eye to watch the sea from Eileann Glas or Copinsay,
Still they guard the shore,
Fair Isle North and Skerryvore,

The empty room, the untrod stairway
The only sound the roaring sea
The tables and the chairs wait still for one last supper
As the mist closes in unseen

Ardnamurchan, Loch Indaal, Rattray Head The isle of May ,
Not an eye to watch the sea from Eileann Glas or Copinsay,
Still they guard the shore,
Fair Isle North and Skerryvore,

Proud Men they were who manned the beacon,
A sense of worth was in their mind
Maybe they're on shore now, aye, but still on look- out
As the doors rattle in an unsensed wind.

Ardnamurchan, Loch Indaal, Rattray Head The isle of May ,
Not an eye to watch the sea from Eileann Glas or Copinsay,
Still they guard the shore,
Fair Isle North and Skerryvore,

..and still at night I hear the fog horn sweep across the seas,
I wonder if old lighthouse keepers hear it
And remember nights like these....

Hard lives they had, and near to danger
Long lonely months they'd have their fill
Ah but if I were some storm bound sailor,
I'd wish the keepers were watching still

Ardnamurchan, Loch Indaal, Rattray Head The isle of May ,
Not an eye to watch the sea from Eileann Glas or Copinsay,
Still they guard the shore,
Fair Isle North and Skerryvore.