Dark Island was originally an instrumental, originally entitled Dr Mackay’s Farewell To Creagorry. Iain Maclachlan was stated to be the author of the tune in around 1958. It was used as an accordian melody for a BBC theme tune for the 1962 TV series ‘Dark Island’, a spy thriller, re-titled for the TV series, there were no words to it.
Several writers from about 1963 added words, including Glasgow writer David Silver whose famous ‘Away to the West’, words about Benbecula were then added to the tune to create a song. These were then translated from English into Gaelic.
This is my version played on Pedal Steel Guitar and Flute. The video footage was taken on a trip my wife and I made touring around the Hebrides and we both loved it there, this song reflected that feeling.