When the Kye comes Hame

Come, all ye jolly shepherds That whistle through the glen, I ’ll tell ye of a secret That courtiers dinna ken: What is the greatest bliss That the tongue o’ man can name? ’T is to woo a bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame, ’Tween the gloaming and the mirk, When the kye comes hame! ’T is not beneath the coronet, Nor canopy of state, ’T is not on couch of velvet, Nor arbor of the great,— ’T is beneath the spreading birk, In the glen without the name, Wi’ a bonny, bonny lassie, When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. There the blackbird bigs his nest For the mate he loes to see, And on the topmost bough, O, a happy bird is he; Where he pours his melting ditty, And love is a’ the theme, And he ’ll woo his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. When the blewart bears a pearl, And the daisy turns a pea, And the bonny lucken gowan Has fauldit up her ee, Then the laverock frae the blue lift Doops down, an’ thinks nae shame To woo his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. See yonder pawkie shepherd, That lingers on the hill, His ewes are in the fauld, An’ his lambs are lying still; Yet he downa gang to bed, For his heart is in a flame, To meet his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. When the little wee bit heart Rises high in the breast, An’ the little wee bit starn Rises red in the east, O there ’s a joy sae dear, That the heart can hardly frame, Wi’ a bonny, bonny lassie, When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. Then since all nature joins In this love without alloy, O, wha wad prove a traitor To Nature’s dearest joy? O, wha wad choose a crown, Wi’ its perils and its fame, And miss his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame! ’Tween the gloaming and the mirk, When the kye comes hame!