Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Farewell to the Land

Traditional

“Farewell to the Land” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 116 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

Farewell to the land of the rock and the wild-wood,

The hill and the forest and proud swelling wave;

To the land where bliss smiled on the days of my childhood,

Farewell to thee, Scotia, thou land of the brave!

Far dearer to me are thy heath cover'd mountains,

Than Gallia's rich valleys, and gay fertile plains;

And dearer by far than her murmuring fountains,

The roar of the torrent, where liberty reigns.

Wherever I wander, sweet Isle of the ocean,

My thoughts still shall turn to thy wild rocky shore;

Ah! still shall my heart beat with fondest emotion,

While musing on scenes I may visit no more.

Adieu, then, dear land of romance and wild story,

Thy welfere and honour for ever shall be

The prayer of an exile, whose boast and whose glory,

Is the tie that still binds him, loved country, to 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, “Farewell to the Land”

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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