Hi there looking for a bit of help understanding a line from a Hamish Imlach song "Cod Liver Oil and The Orange Juice". The accent, the slang and the potential for double-meanings, which is always the case with a clever writer like him, have me stumped. The line is "Sahara an' ra camels". In context: "Hairy Mary's looking for her hard man Oh ho ho, he's joined the Foreign Legion, Ah ha ha, Sahara an' ra camels".
Link to the clearest recording of the song as far as I know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9h20aDBLLU
(The line comes in just after the 3 minute mark).
by whynotmeitheal
8 comments
Sahara and the camels
And the.
Sahara and the camels. The foreign legion had mounted corps or camel corps
I love Hamish Imlach. Very different slant on Scottish folk to the Corries! MacPherson’s Farewell and the Twa Corbies on that album are incredible
The Mary Wallopers do a good cover of this.
I always heard it as “Sahara a’er a camel’ as in (he’s in the) Sahara, over a camel. Although that’s from the Findlay Napier version.
I’ve always heard “Sahara an’ aw’ra Camels” which translates to “Sahara and all the Camels”.
I thought it was to do with fags (cigarettes)
My favourite Hamish story was his theory that he was allergic to leather. Because every time he woke up in bed with his shoes on he had a headache.