| |
| ’T IS They, of a veritie— | |
| They are calling thin an’ shrill; | |
| We maun rise an’ put to sea, | |
| We maun gi’e the deid their will, | |
| We maun ferry them owre the faem, | 5 |
| For they draw us as they list; | |
| We maun bear the deid folk hame | |
| Through the mirk an’ the saft seamist. | |
| |
| “But how can I gang the nicht, | |
| When I ’m new come hame frae sea? | 10 |
| When my heart is sair for the sicht | |
| O’ my lass that langs for me?” | |
| “O your lassie lies asleep, | |
| An’ sae do your bairnies twa; | |
| The cliff-path ’s stey an’ steep, | 15 |
| An’ the deid fok cry an’ ca’.” | |
| |
| O sae hooly steppit we, | |
| For the nicht was mirk an’ lown, | |
| Wi’ never a sign to see, | |
| But the voices all aroun’. | 20 |
| We laid to the saut sea-shore, | |
| An’ the boat dipped low i’ th’ tide, | |
| As she micht hae dipped wi’ a score, | |
| An’ our ain three sel’s beside. | |
| |
| O the boat she settled low, | 25 |
| Till her gunwale kissed the faem, | |
| An’ she didna loup nor row | |
| As she bare the deid folk hame; | |
| But she aye gaed swift an’ licht, | |
| An’ we naething saw nor wist | 30 |
| Wha sailed i’ th’ boat that nicht | |
| Through the mirk an’ the saft sea-mist. | |
| |
| There was never a sign to see, | |
| But a misty shore an’ low; | |
| Never a word spak’ we, | 35 |
| But the boat she lichtened slow, | |
| An’ a cauld sigh stirred my hair, | |
| An’ a cauld hand touched my wrist, | |
| An’ my heart sank cauld and sair | |
| I’ the mirk an’ the saft sea-mist. | 40 |
| |
| Then the wind raise up wi’ a maen, | |
| (’T was a waefu’ wind, an’ weet), | |
| Like a deid saul wud wi’ pain, | |
| Like a bairnie wild wi’ freit; | |
| But the boat rade swift an’ licht, | 45 |
| Sae we wan the land fu’ sune, | |
| An’ the shore showed wan an’ white | |
| By a glint o’ the waning mune. | |
| |
| We steppit oot owre the sand | |
| Where an unco’ tide had been, | 50 |
| An’ Black Donald caught my hand | |
| An’ coverit up his een: | |
| For there, in the wind an’ weet, | |
| Or ever I saw nor wist, | |
| My Jean an’ her weans lay cauld at my feet, | 55 |
| In the mirk an’ the saft sea-mist. | |
| |
| An’ it ’s O for my bonny Jean! | |
| An’ it ’s O for my bairnies twa, | |
| It ’s O an’ O for the watchet een | |
| An’ the steps that are gane awa’— | 60 |
| Awa’ to the Silent Place, | |
| Or ever I saw nor wist, | |
| Though I wot we twa went face to face | |
| Through the mirk an’ the saft sea-mist. | |
| |
