Traditional Scottish Songs
- The Highland Widow's Lament
Although this version of the song refers to Charles Edward Stewart who led the Jacobite Uprising in 1745, an earlier version was published around 1715. When Robert Burns was collecting old Scottish songs his notes suggested that the ballad was dealing with the Massacre at Glen Coe.
The Highland Widow's Lament
Oh, I am come to the low countrie,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Without a penny in my purse,
To buy a meal to me.It was na sae in the Highland hills,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Nae woman in the country wide
Sae happy was as me.For then I had a score o' kye,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Feeding on yon hills so high,
And giving milk to me.And there I had threescore o' yowes,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Skipping on yon bonnie knowes,
And casting woo' to me.I was the happiest of a' the clan,
Sair, sair may I repine;
For Donald was the brawest man,
And Donald he was mine.Till Charlie Stuart cam' at last,
Sae far to set us free;
My Donald's arm was wanted then
For Scotland and for me.Their waefu' fate what need I tell?
Right to the wrang did yield:
My Donald and his country fell
Upon Culloden field.Och on, O Donald O!
Och on, och on, och rie!
Nae woman in the warld wide
Sae wretched now as me.Meaning of unusual words:
Och on, och on, och rie=exclamation of sorrow
na sae=not so
kye=cattle
yowes=ewes
knowes=knoll, small hill
woo'=wool
sair=sad, sorrowful
brawest=finest
waefu'sad, miserable
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
