The Book of Scottish Song/Love's Adieu
Love’s Adieu.
[This song was written by Joseph Grant, a Kincardineshire peasant, who, amid toil and poverty, devoted his leisure hours to reading and the cultivation of his mind. He composed verses at the early age of fourteen; and when in his twenty-third year he published "Juvenile Lays," a collection of poems. Two years thereafter, he published "Kincardineshire Traditions" in one small volume. At a later period of his life he contributed several tales and sketches to "Chambers' Journal." He was engaged in preparing a volume of his tales for the press, when he was seized wth a cold, which settled on his lungs; and, returning home for the benefit of his native air, he died at Affrusk, in April, 1835, in the 30th year of his age.]
The e'e o' the dawn, Eliza,
Blinks over the dark green sea,
An' the moon's creepin' down to the hill tap
Richt dim an' drowsilie;
An' the music o' the mornin'
Is murmurin' alang the air;
Yet still my dowie heart lingers
To catch one sweet throb mair.
We've been as blest, Eliza,
As children o' earth can be,
Though my fondest wish has been nipt by
The bonds o' povertie;
An' through life's misty sojourn,
That still may be our fa',
But hearts that are linked for ever
Ha'e strength to bear it a'.
The cot by the mutterin' burnie,
Its wee bit garden an' field,
May ha'e mair o' the blessin's o' heaven
Than lichts on the lordliest bield.
There's mony a young brow braided
Wi' jewels o' far aff isles,
But woe may be drinkin' the heart-springs
While we see nought but smiles.
But adieu, my ain Eliza!
Where'er my wanderin's be,
Undyin' remembrance will mak' thee
The star o' my destinie;
An' weel I ken, thou loved one,
That aye till I return
Thou'lt treasure pure faith in thy bosom
Like a gem in a gowden urn.