Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Collection of ancient and modern Scottish ballads, tales, and songs > Volume 2
(363) Page 341 - Flowers of the forest
Download files
Complete book:
Individual page:
Thumbnail gallery: Grid view | List view
341
By oppression's woes and pains !
By your sons in servile chains ;
We will drain our dearest veins.
But they shall be—shall be free !
Lay the proud usurpers low !
Tyrants fall in every foe ;
Liberty's in every blow !
Forward ! let us do, or die !
THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.
[Written by the sister of Sir Gilbert Elliot, about the year 1 755.
— BuRNs's Works, vol. i. p. 282. It laments in elegant and
tender strains the effects of the fatal battle of Flodden, fought
on the 9th September, 1513, in which James IV., most of his
nobility, and the greater part of his army, composed of the
flower of the nation, were slain. The tune is one of the most
beautiful, and considered as the most ancient, of ovir Scottish
melodies.]
I've heard them lilting, at the ewe milking.
Lasses a' lilting, before dawn of day ;
But now they are moaning, on ilka green loaning;
The flowers of the forest are a' wede awae.
At bughts, in the morning, nae blithe lads are scorning;
Lasses are lonely, and dowie, and wae ;
Nae daffing, nae gabbing, but sighing and sabbing ;
Ilk ane lifts her leglin, and hies her av/ae.
In har'st, at the shearing, nae youths now are jearing;
Bandsters are runkled, and lyart or gray ;
At fair, or at preaching, nae M'ooing, nae fleeching ;
The flowers of the forest are a' wede awae.
By oppression's woes and pains !
By your sons in servile chains ;
We will drain our dearest veins.
But they shall be—shall be free !
Lay the proud usurpers low !
Tyrants fall in every foe ;
Liberty's in every blow !
Forward ! let us do, or die !
THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.
[Written by the sister of Sir Gilbert Elliot, about the year 1 755.
— BuRNs's Works, vol. i. p. 282. It laments in elegant and
tender strains the effects of the fatal battle of Flodden, fought
on the 9th September, 1513, in which James IV., most of his
nobility, and the greater part of his army, composed of the
flower of the nation, were slain. The tune is one of the most
beautiful, and considered as the most ancient, of ovir Scottish
melodies.]
I've heard them lilting, at the ewe milking.
Lasses a' lilting, before dawn of day ;
But now they are moaning, on ilka green loaning;
The flowers of the forest are a' wede awae.
At bughts, in the morning, nae blithe lads are scorning;
Lasses are lonely, and dowie, and wae ;
Nae daffing, nae gabbing, but sighing and sabbing ;
Ilk ane lifts her leglin, and hies her av/ae.
In har'st, at the shearing, nae youths now are jearing;
Bandsters are runkled, and lyart or gray ;
At fair, or at preaching, nae M'ooing, nae fleeching ;
The flowers of the forest are a' wede awae.
Set display mode to: Large image | Transcription
Images and transcriptions on this page, including medium image downloads, may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise stated.
Special collections of printed music > Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Collection of ancient and modern Scottish ballads, tales, and songs > Volume 2 > (363) Page 341 - Flowers of the forest |
---|
Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/87728826 |
---|
Shelfmark | Glen.53a |
---|---|
Additional NLS resources: | |
Attribution and copyright: |
|
Description | Scottish songs and music of the 18th and early 19th centuries, including music for the Highland bagpipe. These are selected items from the collection of John Glen (1833 to 1904). Also includes a few manuscripts, some treatises, and other books on the subject. |
---|
Description | The Glen Collection and the Inglis Collection represent mainly 18th and 19th century Scottish music, including Scottish songs. The collections of Berlioz and Verdi collected by bibliographer Cecil Hopkinson contain contemporary and later editions of the works of the two composers Berlioz and Verdi. |
---|