From The Scottish Songs, Volume 2 edited by Robert Chambers (Edinburgh: William Tait, 1829), page 665:


GALA WATER.
Tune—Gala Water.

Out ower yon moss, out ower yon muir,
Out ower yon bonnie bush o' heather!
O all ye lads, whae'er ye be,
Show me the way to Gala Water.

[CHORUS] Braw, braw lads o' Gala Water,
Bonnie lads o' Gala Water;
The Lothian lads maun ne'er compare
Wi' the braw lads o' Gala Water.

At Nettlie-flat we will begin,
And at Halltree we'll write a letter;
We'll down by the Bower, and take a scour,
And drink to the lads o' Gala Water.

There's Blindlie and Torwoodlee,
And Galashiels is muckle better;
But young Torsonce he bears the gree
Of a' the Pringles o' Gala Water.

Buckham is a bonnie place;
But Appletree-leaves is muckle better;
But Cockleferry bears the gree
Frae ilka laird on Gala Water.

Lords and lairds came here to woo,
And gentlemen wi' sword and dagger;
But the black-eyed lass o' Galashiels
Wad hae nane but the gree o' Gala Water.

Lothian lads are black wi' reek,
And Teviotdale lads are little better;
But she's kiltit her coats abune her knee,
And gane wi' the lad o' Gala Water.

Though corn-rigs are gude to see,
Yet flocks o' sheep are muckle better;
For oats will shake in a windy day,
When the lambs will play in Gala Water.

Adieu, sour plooms o' Galashiels,
Farewell, my father and my mother;
For I'll awa' wi' the black herd lad
Wha keeps his flocks on Gala Water.

[LAST CHORUS] Braw, braw lads o' Gala Water,
Bonnie lads o' Gala Water!
Let them a' say what they will,
The gree gaes aye to Gala Water.*

* If this song be (what it probably is) the first song written to the tune of Gala Water, we must conclude that the celebrity of that district of Scot, land in iong and music, has been entirely owing to the charms of one bonnie lass. So much may one person do for a country.