This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (First Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.
Come all yo jolly shepherds that whistle through the glen,
I'll tell ye of a secret that courtiers dinna ken:
What is the greatest bliss that the tongue o' man ean name?
'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame.
When the kye come hame, when the kye come hame,
'Tween the gloamin and the mirk, when the kyo come hame.
'Tis not beneath the burgonet, nor yet beneath the crown,
'Tis not on couch of velvet, nor yet on bed of down—
'Tis beneath the spreading birch, in the dell without a name,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame.
Then the eye shines so bright, the hale soul to beguile,
There's love in every whisper, and joy in every smile;
O, wha would choose a crown, wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss a bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame.
See yonder pawky shepherd, that lingers on the hill,
His ewes are in the fauld, and his lambs are lying still;
Yet he downa gang to bed, for his heart is in a flame,
To meet his bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame.
Awa wi' fame and fortune—what comfort can they gie ?—
And a' the arts that prey upon man's life and liberty!
Gie me the highest joy that the heart o' man can frame,—
My bonnie, bonnie lassie, when the kye come hame!