By Alison Rutherford Cockburn (1712-1794)
I've seen the smiling
Of Fortune beguiling;
I've felt all its favours, & found its decay;
Sweet was its blessing,
Kind its caressing;
But now it is fled--fled far away.
I've seen the forest
Adorned the foremost,
With flowrs of the fairest, most pleasant & gay;
Sae bonnie was their blooming!
Their scent the air perfuming!
But now they are withered & a'wede away
I've seen the morning
With gold the hills adorning,
And loud tempest storming before the mid-day,
I've seen Tweed's silver streams,
Shining in the sunny beams
Grow drumly & dark as he rowed on his way.
Oh fickle Fortune!
Why this cruel sporting?
Oh, why still perplex us, poor sons of a day?
Nae mair your smiles can cheer me,
Nae mair your frowns can fear me;
For the flowers of the forest ar a' wede away.
Note: The Flowers of the Forest in this & the song are the men of Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire who fell at the battle of Flodden. I also heard on YouTube the pipes playing this song, with the words.
I've seen the smiling
Of Fortune beguiling;
I've felt all its favours, & found its decay;
Sweet was its blessing,
Kind its caressing;
But now it is fled--fled far away.
I've seen the forest
Adorned the foremost,
With flowrs of the fairest, most pleasant & gay;
Sae bonnie was their blooming!
Their scent the air perfuming!
But now they are withered & a'wede away
I've seen the morning
With gold the hills adorning,
And loud tempest storming before the mid-day,
I've seen Tweed's silver streams,
Shining in the sunny beams
Grow drumly & dark as he rowed on his way.
Oh fickle Fortune!
Why this cruel sporting?
Oh, why still perplex us, poor sons of a day?
Nae mair your smiles can cheer me,
Nae mair your frowns can fear me;
For the flowers of the forest ar a' wede away.
Note: The Flowers of the Forest in this & the song are the men of Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire who fell at the battle of Flodden. I also heard on YouTube the pipes playing this song, with the words.
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