Poem by Robert Nicoll

The Lass of Turrit Ha’

AMANG the hills, the rocky hills,
  Where whirs the moorcock, waves the heather,
Ae bonnie morn, in lightsome June,
  I wi’ a lassie did foregather.
Her naked feet, amang the grass,
  Seemed dancin’ snaw-white lambies twa,
As she gaed singin’ through the glen,—
  The bonnie lass of Turrit Ha’!

I stood upon an auld gray stane,
  An’ followed her wi’ straining e’e,
As bairnies look on fallin’ starns
  That o’er the lift glint silentlie.
Her sang, her bonnie mornin’ sang,
  Upon my heart did thrilling fa’;
A thing of light and love was she,
  The bonnie lass of Turrit Ha’!

I met her on the Sabbath-day,
  When winds amang the woods were lown,
When o’er the muir o’ gorse an’ broom
  Came sweet the plaintive chanted tune.
And monie a bonnie quean was there;
  But she was fairest o’ them a’,—
The bonniest tree within the wood,—
  The bonnie lass of Turrit Ha’!

An’ when they sang the holy Psalm,
  Her voice was sweetest, dearest there,—
’Mang a’ that gaed to God aboon,
  Hers was the purest, holiest prayer!
I thought the light o’ day was gane
  When she ayont the kirkyard wa’,
By yon burn-brae gaed wanderin’ hame,—
  The bonnie lass of Turrit Ha’!

A’ things in earth an’ heaven aboon
  Ha’e something worthy to be loved;
But mair than a’ I met afore
  That lassie’s smile my bosom moved.
The birdie lo’es the summer bush,
  The maukin’ lo’es the greenwood shaw;
But nane can tell how weel I lo’ed
  The bonnie lass of Turrit Ha’!

The summer bud o’ Turrit Glen,
  Alas! aneath the mools is laid;
The winds that waved her raven hair
  Are cauldly whistlin’ o’er her bed:
But, while yon silent moon doth shine,
  Sae lang as I ha’e breath to draw,
I ’ll mind the gem o’ youth an’ love,
  The bonnie lass of Turrit Ha’!

1. Fiddler Johnnie
2. The Place That I Love Best
3. Our Auld Hearthstane
4. Janet Macbean
5. The Folk o’ Ochtergaen

Print

1218 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version