Robin Padgham Piano Teacher

The Skye Boat Song

An anomaly

As I was researching the "Skye Boat Song" for an item on the "Today" page, I happened across something rather odd. I have always thought of this tune as having a rather lilting, two in a bar feel, like a lullaby or indeed, imitating the rocking of the boat depicted in the song. The song is often sung as a lullaby. The berceuse, the French term for a cradle song, is also usually, but not always, in 6/8 time giving that rocking, lilting feel. It's a cradle song after all. It's meant to send the baby to sleep.

The point is that I found various free downloads of the tune, some of which were in 3/4 time, obviously giving a three beats feel instead of two. Rhythmically they were identical. Metre-wise, not so. Delving further into my own collection I found other versions also with a triple-meter time signature.

Not all though. Some were nicely as expected, in two. One of those was written for the bagpipes, interestingly with the tempo indicated as a 'Slow march'. At least a slow march fits in with the two beats. Not many marches would work too well with three beats in a bar, with the possible exception of when the march was being executed by those good folk from the Isle of Man.

A further strange anomaly was to find a version with two sharps in the key signature, despite the tune being written out with a very definite home key feel alternating between G major and E minor. Fortunately, there were no 'C's in the tune so the extra sharp had no impact other than looming alarmingly at the beginning of the line. I wondered why it was there though. Had the person posting thought that because the tune started on 'D' then it must be in D major?

What is the point of my ramblings here?

It is this. In much the same way that anyone these days can write anything they like in plain text and post it for all to see on the internet (just as I am doing now in fact), they can now do exactly the same with musical notation. The freely (and in some cases not so freely) available notation software makes it easy. It's great that you can search online for the sheetmusic of a tune that you want to play, but it comes with a caution. Anyone could have put it there and just because it's there, doesn't mean that it's right and good. As an example, I have seen cases of piano music where the beats don't even line up between the right and left hands, making it a nightmare to read let alone learn and play. I've also seen bars where the value of the notes in a bar don't add up to what the time signature prescribes.

I'm not saying that you can't play the Skye Boat Song when it's written out in triple-meter. But if played with a triple-meter feel, as implied by the notation, you won't get that lilting effect or at least, not the same lilting effect. If you know the piece already, then you'll probably add your own 'layer' of rendering to your performance to make it sound how you know it should. But what about if you download a piece that you don't know well? Chances are you'll play it in ther way that 'the dots' suggest, missing the point of what it's supposed to sound like.

My recommendation is to stick with trusted editions. Yes, old-fashioned I know. But you will know what you're getting and won't have to work out what was really intended. If you have to rely on downloads from unknown sources, then at least be aware that you might have to do some work to discover how it was supposed to be laid out.

If you are interested in the bagpipe version of the music that I found, here's a link to it. Unusual style. Note the direction of the stems. Is all bagpipe music like this? I really don't know!

Sheet music for the Skye Boat Song

Last Updated: 24th May 2026

The Skye Boat Song

Last Updated: 24th May 2026