The Highland Widow's Lament

by Robert Burns

Oh, I am come to the low countrie,
Och on, och on, och rie!^[1]
Without a penny in my purse,
To buy a meal to me.

It was na sae in the Highland hills,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Nae woman in the country wide
Sae happy was as me.

For then I had a score o' kye,^[2]
Och on, och on, och rie!
Feeding on yon hills so high,
And giving milk to me.

And there I had threescore o' yowes,^[3]
Och on, och on, och rie!
Skipping on yon bonnie knowes,^[4]
And casting woo' to me.

I was the happiest of a' the clan,
Sair, sair may I repine;
For Donald was the brawest man,
And Donald he was mine.

Till Charlie Stuart cam' at last,
Sae far to set us free;
My Donald's arm was wanted then
For Scotland and for me.

Their waefu'^[5] fate what need I tell?
Right to the wrang did yield:
My Donald and his country fell
Upon Culloden field.

Och on, O Donald O!
Och on, och on, och rie!
Nae woman in the warld wide
Sae wretched now as me.

Notes

1. Scots transliteration of Gaelic "O Dhòmhnaill, O Dhòmhnaill, O chridhe" meaning "O Donald, O Donald, O heart" or "Ochón, ochón, a chridhe" meaning "Alas, alack, O heart"
2. Cattle
3. Ewes
4. Knolls
5. Sad