The Book of Scottish Song/Wallace's Lament

Wallace's Lament.

[Written by Tannahill, to the tune of "Maids of Arrochar."]

Thou dark winding Carron once pleasing to see,
To me thou can'st never give pleasure again,
My brave Caledonians lie low on the lea,
And thy streams are deep ting'd with the blood of the slain.
'Twas base-hearted treach'ry that doom'd our undoing,—
My poor bleeding country, what more can I do?
Even valour looks pale o'er the red field of ruin,
And freedom beholds her best warriors laid low.

Farewell, ye dear partners of peril farewell!
Tho' buried ye lie in one wide bloody grave,
Your deeds shall ennoble the place where ye fell,
And your names be enroll'd with the sons of the brave.
But I, a poor outcast, in exile must wander,
Perhaps, like a traitor, ignobly must die!
On thy wrongs, O my country! indignant I ponder.—
Ah! wo to the hour when thy Wallace must fly!

---