The Book of Scottish Song/When the kye come hame

When the kye come hame.

[This spirited song by the Ettrick Shepherd first appeared in his novel entitled "The Three Perils of Man," 1821, 3 vols. It is sung to the old tune of "The Blathrie o't."]

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?
'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie
⁠When the kye come hame.
⁠When the kye come hame,
⁠When the kye come hame,
⁠'Tween the gloamin and the mirk,
⁠When the kye come hame.

'Tis not beneath the burgonet,
⁠Nor yet beneath the crown,
'Tis not on couch of velvet,
⁠Nor yet on bed of down:
'Tis beneath the spreading birch,
⁠In the dell without a name,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,
⁠When the kye come hame.

There the blackbird bigs his nest
⁠For the mate he loves to see,
And up upon the tapmost bough,
⁠Oh, a happy bird is he!
Then he pours his melting ditty,
⁠And love 'tis a' the theme,
And he'll woo his bonnie lassie
⁠When the kye come hame.

When the bluart bears a pearl,
⁠And the daisy turns a pea,
And the bonnie lucken gowan
⁠Has fauld it up his e'e,
Then the laverock frae the blue lift
⁠Draps down, and thinks nae shame
To woo his bonnie lassie
⁠When the kye come hame.

Then the eye shines sae bright,
⁠The haill soul to beguile,
There's love in every whisper,
⁠And joy in evety smile;
O, who would choose a crown,
⁠Wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss a bonnie lassie
⁠When the kye come hame?

See yonder pawky shepherd
⁠That lingers on the hill—
His yowes are in the fauld,
⁠And his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to rest,
⁠For his heart is in a flame,
To meet his bonnie lassie,
⁠When the kye come hame.

Awa' wi' fame and fortune—
⁠What comfort can they gi'e—
And a' the arts that prey
⁠On man's life and libertie!
Gi'e me the highest joy
⁠That the heart o' man can frame,
My bonnie, bonnie lassie,
⁠When the kye come hame.

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