It's the far northland that's a-calling me away, as take I with my knapsack to the road---

by Alice

We sang this song 70 years ago at Camp Grey in Saugatuck, MI,and I'm hoping someone else remembers it.

I can't come up with more lyrics but the tune is in my head.

Comments for It's the far northland that's a-calling me away, as take I with my knapsack to the road---

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Apr 03, 2021
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Great camping tune!
by: Jock Williams

I learned it at Camp Comak in 1959! Glad to finally find (some of) the words! Comak was on Lake St Nora north of Minden Ontario -populated by guys from the Toronto/Kitchener area of the province. Great camp! Of course the tune is universal!

Feb 18, 2021
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The past is still singing
by: Anonymous

I'm not ordinarily the sentimental type, but finding this song online almost brings tears to my eyes. I remember singing it in the early fifties at Woodcraft Camp in central Wisconsin, using the "Lake Dunston and Clearwater" references. The melody is terrific, but I think it's the delightfully fractured syntax ("as take I" and "as step I with the sunlight", etc.) that makes it so memorable.

Jan 10, 2020
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Far Northland
by: Anonymous

WOW! I can't forget that song either! I learned it from Cliff "cap" Drury at Camp Hayo-Went-Ha at Torch Lake, Mi, also about 70 years ago. Thanks for digging up the lyrics, as with some of you I never forgot the melody.

May 06, 2017
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Song in the evening
by: Anonymous

We sang the whole song. At charles l. Sommers canoe bse in ely minnesota. 1975. All I remember is the first stanza also.

Aug 17, 2015
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I learned this song at Farm & Wilderness Camps back in the mid-1960's
by: Anonymous

What a great song! I learned this at Camp Indian Brook (which is part of Farm & Wilderness Camps), up in Plymouth Union, VT, back in the mid-1960's!

It is such a cool song! Hearing it again for the very first time in years evokes the fondest memories!

Apr 26, 2013
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Camp Minocqua, circa 1955
by: John

We used to sing this song on many occasions; camp fires, hiking, canoeing etc.

Went to that camp for 6 years and loved it !!!
My favorite thing was the long canoe trips. We sang all the time!! Oh, to be that carefree, again!!

Mar 09, 2013
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Camp Sealth
by: Miss Merry

I learned this song 64 years a go at Camp Sealth, a Camp Fire Girls Camp on Vashon Island out of Seattle Washington. I still get a tear in my eye when I sing it. My camp name was "Miss Merry".

Feb 11, 2013
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Far Northland lyrics (Road to the Isles)
by: Anonymous

The lyrics below are from "Songs of the Nation of Tonkawampus" published by the Minneapolis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America back in the late 40s or early 50s. The tune is an old Scottish tune - "The Road to the Isles" . . . while there may be other lakes with the same names elsewhere, Lake Duncan, Clearwater, and Bearskin are lakes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Northern Minnesota . . .

It's the far Northland,
That's a'calling me away,
As take I with my pack sack to the road,
It's the call on me of the forest in the North,
As take I with the sunlight for my load.

By Lake Duncan and Clearwater,
To the Bearskin I will go
Where you see the loon and hear his plantive wail,
If you're thinkin' in your inner heart,
There's swagger in my step
You've never been along the Border Trail.

It's the flash of paddle blades a'gleaming in the sun,
A canoe softly skimming by the shore,
It's the tang of pine and bracken, coming on the breeze,
That calls me to the water ways once more.

By Lake Duncan and Clearwater,
To the Bearskin I will go
Where you see the loon and hear his plantive wail,
If you're thinkin' in your inner heart,
There's swagger in my step
You've never been along the Border Trail.

Aug 21, 2012
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Words to Far Northland camp song
by: Anonymous

we sang "By Lake Duncan and Clear water to the bear skin I will go".

May 05, 2011
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Second Verse
by: Anonymous

Sorry for necro-posting this: but there is a second verse!

I also learned it at the Charles L. Sommers Canoe base.

Its the flash of paddle blades a gleaming in the sun,
of canoes softly skimming by the shore (by the shore)
Its the smell of Pine and Bracken coming on the breeze,
that calls me to the waterways once more

Jan 07, 2011
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The Northern Trail
by: Dave T

I learned it 47 years ago at the Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base in Minnesota, and coincidentally just taught it tonight to the Scout leaders at our Roundtable.

It's the far Northland that is calling me away,
As take I with my knapsack to the road!
It's the Northern forest tht is leading me astray
As go I with the sunlight for my road.

From Lake Agnes to Louisa to Kahnippi I will go,
Where you see the loon and hear his plaintive wail,
And if you're thinking in your inner heart there's swagger in my step,
Then you've never been along the Northern trail!

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