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You are here: Home / Language / What is the Difference Between the High Road and the Low Road In the Scottish Song “Loch Lomond”?

What is the Difference Between the High Road and the Low Road In the Scottish Song “Loch Lomond”?

June 14, 2020 by Karen Hill

In the song “Loch Lomond,” two wounded Scottish soldiers are in a foreign prison.

One will be set free, but the one speaking is to be executed.

When he says, “You take the high road and I’ll take the low road,” he’s referring to the Celtic belief that if a man dies in a foreign land, the fairies will guide his spirit home along the “low road”.

The living man will travel an earthly or “high road” that will take longer.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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