Robert Tannahill (1774–1810)

KEEN blaws the wind o’er the braes o’ Gleniffer,

The auld castle’s turrets are cover’d wi’ snaw;

How changed frae the time when I met wi’ my lover

Amang the broom bushes by Stanley-green shaw:

The wild flowers o’ summer were spread a’ sae bonnie,

The mavis sang sweet frae the green birken tree;

But far to the camp they hae march’d my dear Johnnie,

And now it is winter wi’ nature and me.

Then ilk thing around us was blythesome and cheery,

Then ilk thing around us was bonny and braw;

Now naething is heard but the wind whistling dreary,

And naething is seen but the wide-spreading snaw.

The trees are a’ bare, and the birds mute and dowie,

They shake the cauld drift frae their wings as they flee,

And chirp out their plaints, seeming wae for my Johnnie,

’Tis winter wi’ them, and ’tis winter wi’ me.

You cauld sleety cloud skiffs alang the bleak mountain,

And shakes the dark firs on the stey rocky brae;

While down the deep glen bawls the snaw-flooded fountain,

That murmur’d sae sweet to my laddie and me.

’Tis no its loud roar on the wintry winds swellin’,

’Tis no the cauld blast brings the tears to my e’e,

For, O! gin I saw but my bonnie Scotch callan’,

The dark days o’ winter were summer to me!