From Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland: With Many Old and Familiar Melodies by Robert Ford, 1901.

THIS IS NO MY PLAID.

O THIS is no my plaid,
My plaid, my plaid;
O this is no my plaid,
Bonnie though the colours be.

The ground o' mine was mixed wi' blue,
I gat it frae the lad I lo'e;
He ne'er has gi'en me cause to rue,
And O! the plaid is dear to me.

Fareweel, ye lowland plaids o' gray,
Nae kindly charm for me ye ha'e;
The tartan shall be mine for aye,
For O! the colour's dear to me.

For mine was silky, saft and warm,
It wrapp'd me round frae arm to arm;
And like himsel' it bore a charm,
And O! the plaid is dear to me.

Although the lad the plaid wha wore
Is now upon a distant shore,
And cruel seas between us roar,
I'll mind the plaid that shelter'd me.

The lad that ga'e me't likes me well,
Although his name I daurna tell;
He likes me just as weel's himsel',
And O! the plaid is dear to me.

O may the plaidie yet be worn,
By Caledonians still unborn;
Ill fa' the wretch whae'er shall scorn
The plaidie that's sae dear to me.

Frae surly blasts it covers me,
He'll me himsel' protection gi'e,
I'll lo'e him till the day I dee,
And O! his plaid is dear to me.

I hope he'll no forget me now,
Each aften pledgèd aith and vow;
I hope he'll yet return to woo
Me in the plaid sae dear to me.

And may the day come soon, my lad,
When we will to the kirk and wed,
Weel happit in the tartan plaid—
The plaidie that's sae dear to me.

O! this will then be my plaid,
My plaid, my plaid;
O! this will then be my plaid,
And while I live shall ever be.

This is one of the commonest songs in the Scottish chap-books, from which fact I presume it to have been a popular favourite in the end of last century. Whitelaw prints an abridged version, and attributes the authorship to W. Halley, of whom, by the by, he gives no biographical or other particulars.

[Note: The typography suggests that the first 4 lines are a chorus, and the last 4 lines are a variant of the chorus that is sung at the end.]