Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Adieu for a while

Traditional

“Adieu for a while” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 16 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

Adieu, for a while, my native green plains,

My nearest relations, my neighbouring swains;

Dear Nelly, frae those I'd start easily free,

Were minutes not ages, while absent frae thee.

Verse 2

Then tell me the reason, thou dost not obey

The pleadings of love, but thus hurry away?

Alake! thou deceiver, o'er plainly I see,

A lover sae roving will never mind me.

Verse 3

The reason unhappy is owing to fate,

That gave me a being without an estate,

Which lays a necessity now upon me,

To purchase a fortune for pleasure to thee.

Verse 4

Small fortune may serve where love has the sway,

Then Johnny be counsel'd na langer to stray,

For while thou proves constant in kindness to me,

Contented I'll aye find a treasure in thee.

Verse 5

O cease, my dear charmer, else soon I'll betray

A weakness unmanly, and quickly give way

To fondness, which may prove a ruin to thee,

A pain to us baith, and dishonour to me.

Bear witness, ye streams, and witness, ye flowers,

Hear witness, ye watchful invisible powers,

If ever my heart be unfaithful to thee,

May naething propitious e'er smile upon me.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. 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, “Adieu for a while”

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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