The Scottish songs - National Library of Scotland

342
Or, if I e'er again shall see
The joys I left langsyne ?
As I came by my father's tow'rs,
My heart beat a' the way ;
Ilk thing I saw put me in mind
O' some dear former day :
The days that follow'd me afar,
Those happy days o' mine,
Which gars me think the joys at hand
Are naething to langsyne.
These ivy'd towers now met my ee,
Where minstrels used to blaw
Nae friend came forth wi' open arms,
Nae weel-kenn'd face I saw;
Till Donald totter'd frae the door,
Whom I left in his prime,
And grat to see the latl come back,
He bore about langsyne.
I ran through every weel-kenn'd room,
In hopes to meet friends there ;
I saw where ilk ane used to sit,
And hang o'er ilka chair,
Till warm remembrance' gushing tear
Did dim these een o' mine :
I steek'd the door, and sobb'd aloud,
To think on langsyne,
A new-sprung race, of motley kind.
Would now their welcome pay,
Wha shudder'd at my Gothic waa's,
And wish'd my groves away :
Cut down these gloomy trees, they cried,
Lay low yon mournful pine.
Ah, no ! my fathers' names are there.
Memorials o' langsyne.