From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume 1 edited by Charles Rogers (Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1855), page 232:


THE ATTAINTED SCOTTISH NOBLES
Carolina, Baroness Nairn

Oh, some will tune their mournfu' strains,
To tell o' hame-made sorrow,
And if they cheat you o' your tears,
They'll dry upon the morrow.
Oh, some will sing their airy dreams,
In verity they're sportin',
My sang's o' nae sic thieveless themes,
But wakin' true misfortune.

Ye Scottish nobles, ane and a',
For loyalty attainted,
A nameless bardie's wae to see
Your sorrows unlamented;
For if your fathers ne'er had fought
For heirs of ancient royalty,
Ye're down the day that might hae been
At the top o' honour's tree a'.

For old hereditary right,
For conscience' sake they stoutly stood;
And for the crown their valiant sons
Themselves have shed their injured blood;
And if their fathers ne'er had fought
For heirs of ancient royalty,
They're down the day that might hae been
At the top o' honour's tree a'.

* This song having become known to George IV, it is said to hare induced his Majesty to award the royal sanction for the restitution of the title of Baron to Lady Nairn's husband.