LISTEN to me, as when ye heard our father Sing long ago the song of other shores— Listen
to me, and then in chorus gather All your deep voices as ye pull your oars: Fair these broad meads—these
hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers’ land.
From the lone shieling of the misty island Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas— Yet
still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we in dreams behold the Hebrides; Fair these broad
meads, &c.
We ne’er shall tread the fancy-haunted valley, Where ’tween the dark hills creeps the small
clear stream, In arms around the patriarch banner rally, Nor see the moon on royal tombstones gleam: Fair
these broad meads, &c.
When the bold kindred, in the time long-vanish’d, Conquer’d the soil and fortified the keep,— No
seer foretold the children would be banish’d, That a degenerate Lord might boast his sheep: Fair these
broad meads, &c.
Come foreign rage—let Discord burst in slaughter! O then for clansmen true, and stern claymore— The
hearts that would have given their blood like water, Beat heavily beyond the Atlantic roar: Fair these
broad meads—these hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers’ land.