Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn

Robert Burns

“Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 209 1887 · historical text
Public domainScottish songSong lyrics
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

The wind blew hollow frae the hills,

By fits the sun's departing beam

Look'd on the fading yellow woods

That wav'd o'er Lugar's winding stream:

Beneath a craigy steep, a Bard,

Laden with years and meikle pain,

In loud lament bewail'd his lord,

Whom death had all untimely taen.

Verse 2

He lean'd him to an ancient aik,

Whose trunk was mould'ring down with years;

His locks were bleachèd white wi' time,

His hoary cheek was wet wi' tears;

And as he touch'd his trembling harp,

And as he tun'd his doleful sang,

The winds, lamenting thro' their caves,

To echo bore the notes alang.

Verse 3

"Ye scatter'd birds that faintly sing,

The reliques of the vernal quire!

Ye woods that shed on a' the winds

The honours of the aged year!

A few short months, and glad and gay,

Again ye'll charm the ear and e'e;

But nocht in all revolving time

Can gladness bring again to me.

Verse 4

"I am a bending agèd tree,

That long has stood the wind and rain;

But now has come a cruel blast,

And my last hold of earth is gane:

Nae leaf o' mine shall greet the spring,

Nae simmer sun exalt my bloom;

But I maun lie before the storm,

And ithers plant them in my room.

Verse 5

"I've seen sae mony changefu' years,

On earth I am a stranger grown;

I wander in the ways of men,

Alike unknowing and unknown:

Unheard, unpitied, unreliev'd,

I bear alane my lade o' care,

For silent, low, on beds of dust,

Lie a' that would my sorrows share.

Verse 6

"And last (the sum of a' my griefs !)

My noble master lies in clay;

The flow'r amang our barons bold,

His country's pride, his country's stay:

In weary being now I pine,

For a' the life of life is dead,

And hope has left my agèd ken,

On forward wing for ever fled.

Verse 7

"Awake thy last sad voice, my harp!

The voice of woe and wild despair!

Awake, resound thy latest lay,

Then sleep in silence evermair!

And thou, my last, best, only friend,

That fillest an untimely tomb,

Accept this tribute from the Bard

Thou brought from fortune's mirkest gloom.

Verse 8

"In Poverty's low barren vale,

Thick mists, obscure, involv'd me round;

Though oft I turn'd the wistful eye,

No ray of fame was to be found:

Thou found'st me, like the morning sun

That melts the fogs in limpid air,

The friendless Bard, and rustic song,

Became alike thy fostering care.

Verse 9

"O! why has worth so short a date?

While villains ripen grey with time!

Must thou, the noble, gen'rous, great,

Fall in bold manhood's hardy prime?

Why did I live to see that day?

A day to me so full of woe?

O! had I met the mortal shaft

Which laid my benefactor low!

Verse 10

"The bridegroom may forget the bride

Was made his wedded wife yestreen;

The monarch may forget the crown

That on his head an hour has been;

The mother may forget the child

That smiles sae sweetly on her knee;

But I'll remember thee, Glencairn,

And a' that thou hast done for me!"

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887), “Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn”

Every text in this 1887 collected edition is by Robert Burns (1759-1796), who died more than 230 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination and a pre-1931 United States publication.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-25. 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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