| Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | Songs.
XIII. Gude Nicht, and Joy be wi’ ye a’ | | By Carolina, Lady Nairne (1766–1845) |
| | | THE BEST o’ joys maun ha’e an end, | |
| The best o’ friends maun part, I trow; | |
| The langest day will wear away, | |
| And I maun bid fareweel to you. | |
| The tear will tell when hearts are fu’; | 5 |
| For words, gin they hae sense ava, | |
| They’re broken, faltering, and few; | |
| Gude nicht, and joy be wi’ you a’. | |
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| O we hae wandered far and wide, | |
| O’er Scotia’s lands o’ firth and fell, | 10 |
| And mony a simple flower we’ve pu’d, | |
| And twined it wi’ the heather bell. | |
| We’ve ranged the dingle and the dell, | |
| The cot-house and the baron’s ha’; | |
| Now we maun tak’ a last farewell, | 15 |
| Gude nicht, and joy be wi’ you a’. | |
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| My harp, fareweel, thy strains are past, | |
| Of gleefu’ mirth, and heartfelt wae; | |
| The voice of song maun cease at last, | |
| And minstrelsy itsel’ decay. | 20 |
| But, oh! whare sorrow canna win, | |
| Nor parting tears are shed ava, | |
| May we meet neighbour, kith and kin, | |
| And joy for aye be wi’ us a’! | | | | |
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