| |
| OH, the auld house, the auld house! | |
| What though the rooms were wee? | |
| Oh, kind hearts were dwelling there, | |
| And bairnies fu’ o’ glee! | |
| The wild rose and the jessamine | 5 |
| Still hang upon the wa’: | |
| How mony cherished memories | |
| Do they, sweet flowers, reca’! | |
| |
| Oh, the auld laird, the auld laird, | |
| Sae canty, kind, and crouse! | 10 |
| How mony did he welcome to | |
| His ain wee dear auld house! | |
| And the leddy, too, sae genty, | |
| There sheltered Scotland’s heir, | |
| And clipt a lock wi’ her ain hand | 15 |
| Frae his lang yellow hair. | |
| |
| The mavis still doth sweetly sing, | |
| The blue-bells sweetly blaw; | |
| The bonnie Earn’s clear winding still | |
| But the auld house is awa’. | 20 |
| The auld house, the auld house! | |
| Deserted though ye be, | |
| There ne’er can be a new house | |
| Will seem sae fair to me. | |
| |
| Still flourishing the auld pear tree, | 25 |
| The bairnies liked to see; | |
| And oh, how often did they speir | |
| When ripe they a’ wad be! | |
| The voices sweet, the wee bit feet | |
| Aye rinnin’ here and there; | 30 |
| The merry shout—oh! whiles we greet | |
| To think we’ll hear nae mair. | |
| |
| For they are a’ wide scattered now, | |
| Some to the Indies gane, | |
| And ane, alas! to her lang hame; | 35 |
| Not here will meet again. | |
| The kirkyaird! the kirkyaird! | |
| Wi’ flowers o’ every hue, | |
| Sheltered by the holly’s shade, | |
| And the dark sombre yew. | 40 |
| |
| The setting sun, the setting sun, | |
| How glorious it gaed doun! | |
| The cloudy splendour raised our hearts | |
| To cloudless skies abune. | |
| The auld dial, the auld dial, | 45 |
| It tauld how time did pass; | |
| The wintry winds ha’e dung it doun, | |
| Now hid ’mang weeds and grass. | |
| |
