 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
287
THE HIGHLAND EMIGRANTS.
I
Come away! far away! from the hills of bonnie Scotland;Here no more may we linger on the mountain, in the glen;—
Come away! why delay? far away from bonnie Scotland,
Land of grouse, and not of heroes! land of sheep, and not of men!
Mighty hunters, for their pastime,
Needing deserts in our shires,
Turn to waste our pleasant places,
Quench the smoke of cottage fires.
Come away! why delay? Let us seek a home denied us,
O'er the oceans that divide us from the country of our sires.
II
Come away! far away! from the river, from the wild wood;From the soil where our fathers lifted freedom's broad claymore;
From the paths in the straths, that were dear to us in childhood;
From the kirk where love was plighted in the happy days of yore.
288
Where the Bruce and Wallace grew;
And where stood the clansman's shieling,
There the red-deer laps the dew.
Come away! far away! But to thee, O bonnie Scotland,
Wheresoever we may wander, shall our hearts be ever true.
III
Far away! far away! in the light of other regionsWe shall prove how we love thee to our children yet unborn.
Far away! far away! we shall teach them our allegiance
To thy name and to thy glory, thou beloved, though forlorn!
At recital of thy greatness
Shall our warmest fervour swell;
On the story of thy sorrow
Shall our fondest memories dwell.
Far away! why delay? We are banish'd from our Scotland,
From our own, our bonnie Scotland! Fare thee well! oh! fare thee well!
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |