Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

African Song

Traditional

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

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 20 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

The winds they were roaring,

The rains they were pouring,

When, lonely, the white man, a wonder to see!

Both hungry and weary,

Desponding and dreary,

He came, and he sat in the shade of our tree.

No mother is by him,

With milk to supply him;

He wanders an outcast, how sad must he be!

Even corn, could he find it,

He has no wife to grind it—

Let us pity the white man, no mother has he!

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, “African Song”

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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