Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Glen-Orra

Traditional

“Glen-Orra” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 127 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 gale is high, the bark is light,

Swiftly it glides the dark sea over,

Why bear, ye waves, so base a freight,

Why waft, ye winds, a vagrant lover.

Wake, artless maid, thy dream is o'er,

No bright'ning hope can gild to-morrow,

Thy lover hails a distant shore,

Nor thinks of thee far in Glen-Orra.

The moon is up, the maiden's gone,

Where flower and tree the night dews cover,

To weep by mountain streamlet lone,

O'er perjur'd vows of faithless lover,

Turn, faithless wretch, seek Orra's wild,

To rapture raise the maiden's sorrow,

Ah! see where love so lately smil'd,

Cold, cold, she sinks in dark Glen-Orra.

The moon hangs pale o'er Orra's steep,

And lists a hapless maiden sighing,

The sullen night-winds, cavern'd, sleep,

As loth to rave o'er maiden dying.

The hue of death has blench'd the lip,

The rosy cheek is pale with sorrow,

Ere morn, death's chilly hand shall nip

The loveliest flower in green Glen-Orra.

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, “Glen-Orra”

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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