Thomas Lyle: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Dunoon

Thomas Lyle

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

Thomas Lyle: Collected Lyrics Text 1 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

See the glow-worm lits her fairy lamp,

From a beam of the rising moon;

On the heathy shore at evening fall,

'Twixt Holy-Loch, and dark Dunoon:

Her fairy lamp's pale silvery glare,

From the dew-clad, moorland flower,

Invite my wandering footsteps there,

At the lonely twilight hour.

When the distant beacon's revolving light

Bids my lone steps seek the shore,

There the rush of the flow-tide's rippling wave

Meets the dash of the fisher's oar;

And the dim-seen steam-boat's hollow sound,

As she sea-ward tracks her way;

All else are asleep in the still calm night,

And robed in the misty grey.

When the glow-worm lits her elfin lamp,

And the night breeze sweeps the hill;

It's sweet, on thy rock-bound shores, Dunoon,

To wander at fency's will.

Eliza! with thee, in this solitude,

Life's cares would pass away,

Like the fleecy clouds over grey Kilmun,

At the wake of early day.

Credits

Written by Thomas Lyle

Words by Thomas Lyle. 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, “Dunoon”

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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