| |
| THE SHIP is on its seaward path, | |
| An’ frae the shore the breezes blaw; | |
| Now Scotland’s cliffs sae dear to me | |
| Aneath the wavin’ waters fa’. | |
| My hame is growin’ far awa’, | 5 |
| It lies aneath yon hill-tap gray; | |
| Yon last-seen spot o’ Scotland’s soil | |
| That rises by the banks of Tay. | |
| |
| Fareweel, ye mossy fountains wild! | |
| Where you fair stream doth softly rin: | 10 |
| To ilka wildwood-shaded pool | |
| To ilka tumblin’ roarin’ linn; | |
| To ilka burnie that doth win | |
| Through heathery muirs its silent way,— | |
| I bid fareweel; for now my hame | 15 |
| Is biggit far frae bonnie Tay. | |
| |
| Fareweel, ye hames o’ pure delight, | |
| That I ha’e lo’ed sae weel and lang! | |
| Ye simmer birdies! ye maun sing | |
| To others now your cheering sang! | 20 |
| Fareweel, ye holms, where lovers gang | |
| Upon the peaceful Sabbath-day: | |
| In youth I loved, in age I ’ll mind, | |
| The green an’ bonny banks of Tay. | |
| |
| Be blessin’s on ilk cot an’ ha’ | 25 |
| That by thy braes o’ hazel rise; | |
| Be a’ thing bonnie where thou rins, | |
| An’ a’ thing happy ’neath thy skies. | |
| Though far frae thee my boatie flies, | |
| The friends I love beside thee stray; | 30 |
| My heart fu’ dead an’ cauld will be | |
| Ere I forget the banks of Tay. | |
| |
| The streams are wide where I am gaun, | |
| An’ on they row through boundless woods; | |
| But dearer is thy Hieland wave | 35 |
| Than yonder wild and foreign floods. | |
| Thy haughs sae green,—the simmer clouds | |
| That o’er thy sheltered hamlets stray,— | |
| I ’ll mind for love an’ friendship’s sake: | |
| Fareweel, ye bonnie banks of Tay. | 40 |
| |
