Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Gude Coldstream toon

Traditional

“Gude Coldstream toon” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 134 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

My heartfelt thoughts to you are leal,

Gude folks o' Coldstream toon!

My heart was sair to bid fareweel

To a' the neebours roun'.

'Twas here my earliest breath was drawn;

And mony a happy day

I spent wi' neebour callants then,

Though I've been lang away.

But since I left gude Coldstream toon,

O time has changed it sair;

The bairnie then upon the lap

Has grown a woman fair;

The young and comlie lads I left

Are now grown bauld and grey,

And auld folks scarce, that ance I kenn'd

Before I gaed away.

There's something in gude Coldstream toon

That mak's my bosom beat,

Wi' an instinct like the hunted hare

To gain its native seat—

To see Tweed's bonnie stream again,

Ilk plantain, haugh, and brae,

That bore the charm o' auld langsyne

When ane was far away.

I'll wear the gloamin' o' my days

Whare life's career began,

And breathe the latest breath o' life

Just whare the first was drawn.

In Coldstream toon wi' Coldstream folk,

A cozzie beild I'll ha'e,

And fight the battles owre again

I fought whan far away.

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, “Gude Coldstream toon”

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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