Scotland O where I was born And happy I have been It is days come months come long years Since my home I have seen All over North America From shore to shore I roamed It's thinking often all the while And how would I get home
And all good friends what may betide So dear so far away And the green and pleasant countryside Where erst I spent my days And when the road is hard and long I oftimes call to mind Old Scotland's vales and Scotland's dales And the love I left behind
But this rolling world's no poet's home Nor has been since Man's fall Through hollow lands and hilly lands Where the lonesome sparrow calls His notes evokes a broken key As you can understand Which makes us roving strangers all From our native land
So treat me kindly as I go As heaven doth require A safe rest and a friendly word Are all that I desire And a glass of your good whiskey bring In the height of my good cheer And I'll think on it kindly many a mile When I am gone from here
I'll take the good times with the bad Times are nothing sure I've learned the while that fortune smiles On them that can endure Ah but I will trust in Providence No matter where I roam And honest ways and honest days Will lead us all safe home