The long-running historical romance drama Outlander, Season 7 is currently airing and, along with its epic story, the latest season also features a phenomenal song.
That track is Irish singer songwriter Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘The Skye Boat Song‘, which is her version of the Outlander, Season 7 theme song, and is the track played at the beginning of every episode of the new season.
The song is, sadly, the final song the iconic Irish singer recorded before she died last month at the still young age of just 56 years old.
What is ‘The Skye Boat Song’?
The track is a traditional Scottish song that was adapted in the 19th century from a song composed by William Ross in the 1700s.
While the original song was written about a man who is in love with a woman who will not pay him any attention, the 19th century version was about Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stewart) as he fled from government soldiers to the Isle of Skye after he and his army were defeated by British troops at the now-infamous Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Fascinatingly, the British offered a reward of £30,000 reward (an enormous sum in those days) to any Scot who would turn the Prince in, but not one person betrayed him.
Consequently, he safely arrived on the Isle of Skye where he remained for a few weeks until he was able to travel back to Scotland where he hid until he was able to escape onto a French ship and go into exile in Europe.
‘The Skye Boat Song‘ lyrics talk about Bonnie Prince Charles as he dressed up as Flora MacDonald’s maid and escaped to the Isle of Skye in disguise.
Sinéad O’Connor’s gorgeous version of ‘The Skye Boat Song‘ comes in two versions — the version that is used as the Outlander, Season 7 theme song and the ‘Revolutionary‘ version, which was released yesterday.
Listen to both versions below.
As for Outlander, the seventh season of the incredibly popular drama is now streaming on Starz.