Robert Allan: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Arran Maid

Robert Allan

“Arran Maid” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Robert Allan: Collected Lyrics Text 2 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Speed, O speed, thou bonnie bark!

An' blaw, thou gentle gale;

An' waft me to my native shore,

An' sweet Glen-Rosa vale.

Glen-Rosa! thou art clear to me,

An' dear to me the shade,

Where I ha'e woo'd, where I ha'e won,

My lovely Arran maid;

Where I ha'e woo'd, &c.

When hung the mist upon the brae,

An' thunder loud would swell,

In echoes from the rugged cliff,

An' down the hollow dell;

Ev'n then, amid Glen-Rosa's wilds,

I ha'e delighted stray'd,

To win the smile of that dear ane,

My lovely Arran maid.

When flowers were waving owre the stream,

An' blooming in their prime,

An' owre the towering Goatfell hung,

The harebell and the thyme.

'Twas sweet to climb the airy height,

Or ream the dusky glade,

Wi' thee my heart sae fondly woo'd,

My lovely Arran maid.

O were I chief of Arran's isle,

Its hills and glens sae steep,

Nae mair my bark would beat the wave,

Nae mair would plough the deep,

Glen-Rosa! I would haunt thy bowers,

Nor seek a sweeter shade,

Than thine, with Rosie in my arms,

My lovely Arran maid.

Credits

Written by Robert Allan

Words by Robert Allan. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “Arran Maid”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

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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