Songs of Angus and More Songs of Angus

Excerpt

O Jean, my Jean, when the bell ca's the congregationOwre valley an' hill wi' the ding frae its iron mou',When a'body's thochts is set on his ain salvation,  Mine's set on you.

There's a reid rose lies on the Buik o' the Word 'afore yeThat was growin' braw on its bush at the keek o' day,But the lad that pu'd yon flower i' the mornin's glory,  He canna pray.

He canna pray; but there's nane i' the kirk will heed himWhaur he sits sae still his lane at the side o' the wa,For nane but the reid rose kens what my lassie gie'd him—  It an' us twa!

He canna sing for the sang that his ain he'rt raises,He canna see for the mist that's 'afore his een,An a voice drouns the hale o' the psalms an' the paraphrases,  Cryin' "Jean, Jean, Jean!"

Laddie, my lad, when ye gang at the tail o' the plough  An' the days draw in,When the burnin' yellow's awa' that was aince a-lowe  On the braes o' whin,Do ye mind o' me that's deaved wi' the wearyfu' south  An' it's puir concairnsWhile the weepies fade on the knowes at the river's mouth  In the Howe o' the Mearns?

There was nae twa lads frae the Grampians doon to the Tay  That could best us twa;At bothie or dance, or the field on a fitba' day,  We could sort them a';An' at courtin'-time when the stars keeked doon on the glen  An' its theek o' fairns,It was you an' me got the pick o' the basket then  In the Howe o' the Mearns.

London is fine, an' for ilk o' the lasses at hame  There'll be saxty here,But the springtime comes an' the hairst—an it's aye the same  Through the changefu year.O, a lad thinks lang o' hame ere he thinks his fill  As his breid he airns—An' they're thrashin' noo at the white fairm up on the hill  In the Howe o' the Mearns.

Gin I mind mysel' an' toil for the lave o' my days  While I've een to see,When I'm auld an' done wi' the fash o' their English ways  I'll come hame to dee;For the lad dreams aye o' the prize that the man'll get,  But he lives an' lairns,An' it's far, far 'ayont him still—but it's farther yet  To the Howe o' the Mearns.

Laddie, my lad, when the hair is white on yer pow  An' the work's put past,When yer hand's owre auld an' heavy to haud the plough  I'll win hame at last,An we'll bide our time on the knowes whaur the broom stands braw  An' we played as bairns,Till the last lang gloamin' shall creep on us baith an' fa'  On the Howe o' the Mearns.

Below the braes o' heather, and far alang the glen,The road rins southward, southward, that grips the souls o' men,That draws their fitsteps aye awa' frae hearth and frae fauld,That pairts ilk freen' frae ither, and the young frae the auld.And whiles I stand at mornin' and whiles I stand at nicht,To see it through the gaisty gloom, gang slippin oot o sicht;There's mony a lad will ne'er come back amang his ain to lie,An' its lang, lang waitin' till the time gangs by.

An far ayont the bit o' sky that lies abune the hills,There is the black toon standin' mid the roarin' o' the mills....