Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Cromlet's Lilt

Traditional

“Cromlet's Lilt” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 89 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

Since all thy vows, false maid,

Are blown to air,

And my poor heart betray'd

To sad despair;

Into some wilderness

My grief I will express,

And thy hard-heartedness,

Oh, cruel fair!

Have I not graven our loves

On every tree

In yonder spreading grove,

Though false thou be?

Was not a solemn oath

Plighted betwixt us both,

Thou thy faith, I my troth,

Constant to be?

Some gloomy place I'll find,

Some doleful shade,

Where neither sun nor wind

E'er entrance had.

Into that bollow cave

There will I sigh and rave,

Because thou dost behave

So faithlessly.

Wild fruit shall be my meat,

I'll drink the spring;

Cold earth shall be my seat;

For covering,

I'll have the starry sky

My head to canopy,

Until my soul on high

Shall spread its wing.

I'll have no funeral fire,

No tears nor sighs;

No grave do I require,

Nor obsequies:

The courteous red-breast, he

With leaves will cover me,

And sing my elegy

With doleful voice.

And when a ghost I am,

I'll visit thee,

Oh, thou deceitful dame,

Whose cruelty

Has kill'd the kindest heart

That e'er felt Cupid's dart,

And never can desert

From loving thee!

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, “Cromlet's Lilt”

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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