Charles Doyne Sillery: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Scottish Blue Bells

Charles Doyne Sillery

“The Scottish Blue Bells” as printed in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850).

Charles Doyne Sillery: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1850 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (First Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Let the proud Indian boast of his jessamine bowers,

His pastures of perfume and rose-covered dells;

While humbly I sing of those wild little flowers,

The blue bells of Scotland, the Scottish blue bells.

Wave, wave your dark plumes, ye proud sons of the mountain,

For brave is the chieftain your prowess who quells,

And dreadful your wrath as the foam-flashing fountain

That calms its wild waves 'mid the Scottish blue bells.

Then strike the loud harp to the land of the river,

The mountain, the valley, with all their wild spells,

And shout in the chorus for ever and ever,

The blue bells of Scotland, the Scottish blue bells.

Verse 2

Sublime are your hills when the young day is beaming,

And green are your groves with their cool crystal wells,

And bright are your broadswords like morning dew gleaming,

On blue bells of Scotland, on Scottish blue bells.

Awake! ye light fairies that trip o'er the heather,

Ye mermaids arise from your coralline cells,

Come forth with your chorus all chanting together—

The blue bells of Scotland, the Scottish blue bells.

Then strike the loud harp to the land of the river,

The mountain, the valley, with all their wild spells,

And shout in the chorus for ever and ever,

The blue bells of Scotland, the Scottish blue bells.

Credits

Written by Charles Doyne Sillery

Words by Charles Doyne Sillery. Historical text published in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850), “The Scottish Blue Bells”

Every contribution in this 1850 anthology predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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