The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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When the Kye comes Hame.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
When the Kye comes Hame.
[_]
In the title and chorus of this favourite pastoral song. I choose rather to violate a rule in grammar, than a Scottish phrase so common, that when it is altered into the proper way, every shepherd and shepherd's sweetheart account it nonsense. I was once singing it at a wedding with great glee the latter way (“when the kye come hame”), when a tailor, scratching his head, said, “It was a terrible affected way that!” I stood corrected, and have never sung it so again.
414
Come all ye jolly shepherds
That whistle through the glen,
I'll tell ye of a secret
That courtiers dinna ken:
What is the greatest bliss
That the tongue o' man can name?
'Tis to woo a bonny lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame,
When the kye comes hame,
'Tween the gloaming and the mirk,
When the kye comes hame.
That whistle through the glen,
I'll tell ye of a secret
That courtiers dinna ken:
What is the greatest bliss
That the tongue o' man can name?
'Tis to woo a bonny lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame,
When the kye comes hame,
'Tween the gloaming and the mirk,
When the kye comes hame.
'Tis not beneath the coronet,
Nor canopy of state,
'Tis not on couch of velvet,
Nor arbour of the great—
'Tis beneath the spreading birk,
In the glen without the name,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame, &c.
Nor canopy of state,
'Tis not on couch of velvet,
Nor arbour of the great—
'Tis beneath the spreading birk,
In the glen without the name,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame, &c.
There the blackbird bigs his nest
For the mate he lo'es to see,
And on the topmost bough,
Oh, a happy bird is he;
Where he pours his melting ditty,
And love is a' the theme,
And he'll woo his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame, &c.
For the mate he lo'es to see,
And on the topmost bough,
Oh, a happy bird is he;
Where he pours his melting ditty,
And love is a' the theme,
And he'll woo his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame, &c.
When the blewart bears a pearl,
And the daisy turns a pea,
And the bonnie lucken gowan
Has fauldit up her e'e,
Then the laverock frae the blue lift
Drops down, an' thinks nae shame
To woo his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame,
And the daisy turns a pea,
And the bonnie lucken gowan
Has fauldit up her e'e,
Then the laverock frae the blue lift
Drops down, an' thinks nae shame
To woo his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame,
See yonder pawkie shepherd,
That lingers on the hill,
His ewes are in the fauld,
An' his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to bed,
For his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame, &c.
That lingers on the hill,
His ewes are in the fauld,
An' his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to bed,
For his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.
When the kye comes hame, &c.
When the little wee bit heart
Rises high in the breast,
An' the little wee bit starn
Rises red in the east,
Oh there's a joy sae dear,
That the heart can hardly frame,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,
When the kye comes hame!
When the kye comes hame, &c.
Rises high in the breast,
An' the little wee bit starn
Rises red in the east,
Oh there's a joy sae dear,
That the heart can hardly frame,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,
When the kye comes hame!
When the kye comes hame, &c.
Then since all nature joins
In this love without alloy,
Oh, wha wad prove a traitor
To Nature's dearest joy?
Or wha wad choose a crown,
Wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame,
When the kye comes hame,
When the kye comes hame,
'Tween the gloaming and the mirk,
When the kye comes hame!
In this love without alloy,
Oh, wha wad prove a traitor
To Nature's dearest joy?
Or wha wad choose a crown,
Wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame,
When the kye comes hame,
When the kye comes hame,
'Tween the gloaming and the mirk,
When the kye comes hame!
The Shepherd afterwards gave the following version of the very beautiful song:
Come all ye jolly shepherds that whistle through the glen,
I'll tell ye of a secret that courtiers dinna ken:
What is the greatest bliss that the tongue o' man can name
'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame.
I'll tell ye of a secret that courtiers dinna ken:
What is the greatest bliss that the tongue o' man can name
'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame.
CHORUS.
When the kye come hame, when the kye come hame,'Tween the gloamin and the mirk, when the kye come hame.
'Tis not beneath the burgonet, nor yet beneath the crown,
'Tis not on couch of velvet nor yet in bed of down—
'Tis beneath the spreading birch, in the dell without a name
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame.
'Tis not on couch of velvet nor yet in bed of down—
'Tis beneath the spreading birch, in the dell without a name
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame.
Then the eye shines so bright, the hale soul to beguile,
There's love in every whisper, and joy in every smile:
Oh, wha wad choose a crown, wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame?
There's love in every whisper, and joy in every smile:
Oh, wha wad choose a crown, wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame?
See yonder pawkie shepherd, that lingers on the hill,
His ewes are in the fauld, and his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to bed, for his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie, when the key come hame.
His ewes are in the fauld, and his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to bed, for his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie, when the key come hame.
Awa' wi' fame an fortune—what comfort can they gi'e?
And a' the arts that prey upon man's life and liberty:
Gi'e me the highest joy that the heart o' man can frame—
My bonnie, bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame!
And a' the arts that prey upon man's life and liberty:
Gi'e me the highest joy that the heart o' man can frame—
My bonnie, bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame!
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |