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The Book of Scottish Song/When I rov'd

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For other versions of this work, see When I Roved a Young Highlander.
George Gordon Byron2262957The Book of Scottish Song — When I rov'd1843Alexander Whitelaw

When I rov'd.

[Words by Lord Byron. Music by J. P. Knight.]

When I rov'd a young Highlander o'er the dark heath,
And climb'd thy dark summit, O Morven, of snow!
To gaze on the torrent that slumber'd beneath,
Or the mist of the tempest that gather'd below;
Untutor'd by science, a stranger to fear,
And rude as the rocks where my infancy grew,
No feeling, save one, to my bosom was dear—
Need I say, my sweet Mary, 'twas center'd in you.

I arose with the dawn, with my dog as my guide,
From mountain to mountain I bounded along;
I breasted the billows of Dee's rushing tide,
And heard at a distance the Highlander's song—
At eve, on my heath-cover'd couch of repose,
No dreams, save of Mary, were spread to my view;
And warm to the skies my devotions arose,
For the first of my prayers was a blessing on you.

Yet the day may arrive, when the mountains once more
Shall rise to my sight in their mantles of snow;
But while these soar above me, unchang'd as before,
Will Mary be there to receive me? ah no!
Adieu! then, ye hills, where my childhood was bred—
Thou sweet flowing Dee, to thy waters adieu!
No home in the forest shall shelter my head,—
Ah Mary! what home could be mine without you?