Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Songs of Scotland > Volume 1

THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.
^ m^m3B ^^Bmtm£^M\
dor - ned the fore - most, With flow - ers of the fair - est, most plea - sant and gay, Sae
fe
33
m^msi
«L-r-a— m—alr+
: :t TK -
* —*-* -*-
tT
f=^
»-»-»
P^EfegJJJgJgflpSai^p
1/ 1/ E
bon-ny was their bloom -ing, their scent the air per - fu - ming, But now they are wi-ther-ed and
tfd^£5=a
i
~3-m i__
ii
*=»=
BSt
nn
m
u
i=feF- j
s
a' wede a - way.
ES
m
^si
P^
i^e
Effi^,
^r
r r tt r
r
r
£
^
f
I've seen the morning with gold the hills adorning,
And the dread tempest roaring before parting day ;
I've seen Tweed's silver streams
Glitt'ring in the sunny beams,
Grow drumlie and dark as they roll'd on their way.
fickle fortune ! why this cruel sporting ?
why thus perplex us, poor sons of a day ?
Thy frowns cannot fear me,
Thy smiles cannot cheer me,
For the Flowers of the Forest are withered away.
" The flowers of the forest." In our Note upon the old air, we have already mentioned Miss Rutherford,
the authoress of these verses. She was born in 1710 or 1712; married Patrick Cockburn, Esq., of Ormiston, in
1731, and died at Edinburgh in 1794. Sir Walter Scott recounts the following anecdote of her : — " Mrs. Cockburn
was a keen Whig. I remember having heard repeated a parody on Prince Charles's proclamation, in burlesque
verse, to the tune of ' Clout the Caldron.' In the midst of the siege or blockade of the Castle of Edinburgh, the
carriage in which Mrs. Cockburn was returning from a visit to Ravelstone was stopped by the Highland guard at
the West Port ; and as she had a copy of the parody about her person, she was not a little alarmed at the conse-
quences ; especially as the officer talked of searching the carriage for letters and correspondence with the Whigs
in the city. Fortunately the arms on the coach were recognised as belonging to a gentleman favourable to the
cause of the Adventurer, so that Mrs. Cockburn escaped, with the caution not to carry political squibs about her
person in future."