Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Wood's edition of the songs of Scotland

THE SONGS OF SCOTLAND.
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LAKGHETTO
CON
ESPRESSIONE.
HOW SWEET THIS LONE VALE!
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GAELIC Altt.
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How sweet this lone vale ! and how sooth - ing to feel - ing, Yon
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ma - vis ' s notes, which in me - lo - dy melt ; O - bli - vion of woe in my
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mind gent - Iy steal - ing, A pause from keen an-guish a mo - ment is felt. The
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moon's yel-low light o'er the still lake is sleeping, Ah! near the sad spot, Ma-ry sleeps in her tomb! A-
gain the heart swells, the eye flows with weeping, And the sweets of the vale are all shadow'd with gloom.
How sweet this lone vale ! All the beauties of Nature,
In varied features, are here to be seen ;
The lowly spread bush, and the oak's tow'ring stature
Are mantled in foliage of gay lovely green.
Ah ! here is the spot, (Oh ! sad recollection !)
It is the retreat of my Mary no more ; —
How kind, how sincere, was the maiden's affection —
Till memory cease, I the loss must deplore.
How sweet this lone vale to a heart full of sorrow !
The wail of distress I unheeded can pour ;
My bosom o'ercharged may be lighter to-morrow,
By shedding a flood in the thick twisted bow'r.
Mary ! in silence thou calmly reposest,
The bustle of life gives no trouble to thee ;
Bemoaning my Mary, life only discloses
A wilderness vacant of pleasure to me.
The following words, entitled " The Highland Emigrant," were written by a friend of the Publisher, for the same
air, with some slight modifications of the melody in accentuation : —
The hills of my Highlands rise oft in my night-dreams, I see the glen-hamlet where Mary, my loved one,
And seem to remind me how far I'm away ! With tears parted from me that heart-breaking day !
I see, in their cloud-mists, the ghosts of my Fathers, The morning sun shines, and I find I am lonely !
Who frown on my absence so far, far away ! My country, my friends, are all far, far away !
" How sweet this lone Vale !" Mr. Stenhouse informs us that this song (that is, the first stanza) was written by
the Honourable Andrew Erskinc, brother of Thomas Earl of Kellie. Burns expressed his high admiration of this
song. The author of the other stanzas is not known. Mr. Erskine was a lieutenant in the 71st regiment, and pos-
sessed considerable literary talent. Being unfortunately addicted to gambling, he met with severe losses, which
appear to have urged him to commit suicide by drowning. His body was found in the Firth of Forth in September
1793. The melody is a Gaelic one. See Museum Illustrations, vol. vi. pp. 490, 528, 529, and Blackie's " Book of
Scottish Song," — an excellent and extensive collection, — p. 442. With regard to the Earl of Kellie above alluded to,
it is but tardy justice, in Scotland, to his musical talents, to remark, that he was the first Scotsman who ever com-
posed orchestral overtures. He studied musical composition in Germany, under the elder Stamitz ; and came home
with more power on the violin, and more knowledge of musical composition, than most professors of his time pos-
sessed. Doctor Burney, who knew him, tells us this in his History of Music, vol. iv. page 677.