| |
| I’VE heard them lilting 1 at our ewe-milking, | |
| Lasses a’ lilting before dawn o’ day; | |
| But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning— 2 | |
| For the Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede 3 away. | |
| |
| At bughts, 4 in the morning, nae blythe lads are scorning, | 5 |
| Lasses are lonely and dowie 5 and wae; | |
| Nae daffin’, 6 nae gabbin’, 7 but sighing and sabbing, | |
| Ilk ane lifts her leglin 8 and hies her away. | |
| |
| In har’st, 9 at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering, | |
| Bandsters 10 are lyart, 11 and runkled, 12 and gray; | 10 |
| At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae fleeching— 13 | |
| The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away. | |
| |
| At e’en, in the gloaming, nae younkers are roaming | |
| ’Bout stacks wi’ the lasses at bogle to play; | |
| But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie— | 15 |
| The Flowers of the Forest are weded away. | |
| |
| Dool and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border! | |
| The English, for ance, by guile wan the day; | |
| The Flowers of the Forest, that fought aye the foremost, | |
| The prime of our land, are cauld in the clay. | 20 |
| |
| We’ll hear nae mair lilting at the ewe-milking; | |
| Women and bairns are heartless and wae; | |
| Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning— | |
| The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away. | |
