Broadside ballad entitled 'When the Kye Come Hame'

Transcription

WHEN

THE KYE COME HAME.

Come all ye jolly shepherds,
That whistle through the glen,

I'll tell you o' a secret
What is the greatest bliss

That the tongue o' man can name?

'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie
When the kye come hame.

When the kye come hame.

When the kye come hame,
'Tween the gloamin' and the mirk.

When the kye come hame.

'Tis not beneath the burgonet,
Nor yet beneath the, crown,

Tis not on couch of velvet,

    Nor yet on bed of down:
Tis beneath the spreading beech,
In the dell without a name,

Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,

When the kye come hame.

There the blackbird bigs his nest,

For the mate he loves to see,
And up upon the tapmost bough,

Oh a happy bird is he.
Then he pours his melting ditty,

And love 'tis a' the theme,
And he'll woo his bonnie lassie

When the kye come hame

When the bluart wears a pearl,

And the daisy turns a pea,
And the bonnie lucken gowan

Has fauldit up his e'e.
Then the lavrock frae the blue list

Draps down, and thinks nae shame

To woo his bonnie lassie

When the kye come hame.

Then the eye shines sae bright,

The hail soul to beguile,
There's love in every whisper,

And joy in every smile;

O, who would choose a crown,
Wi' its perils and its fame,

And the kye come hame.

When the kye come hame.

See yonder pawky shepherd

That lingers on the hill?
His yowes are in the fauld,

And his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to rest,

For his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie

When the kye come hame.

Awa wi' fame and fortune-

What comfort can they gie!
And a' the arts that prey

On man's life and liberty!
Gie me the highest joy

That the heart o' man can frame,
My bonnie, bonnie lassie

When the kye come hame.

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