Nuair bha mi òg
When I was Young


Early in the morning, as I awake drowsily
On a May morning while I am in Ose
The cattle were lowing alongside each other
And the sun was rising on Leac on Stoir
A ray of sun shone on the mountainside
Speedly putting the dark of night under cover
And above me sang the lively cuckoo
Reminding me of when I was young

Reminding me of the many things I have done
That leave me unhappy until I've reached the end of my story
Going to ceilidhs and weddings in the winter
With no light but a lit sod of peat
The lovely young people would be singing and dancing
But that time has now gone and the glen is sad
Andrew's ruin, so full of nettles
Reminding me of when I was young

As I strolled round each glen and stack
Where I was happy tending the cattle
With the lively youngsters of the stack of country people
Without vanity or guile and who are now in exile
The mossy banks and pastures are under heather and rushes
Where I often gathered the sheaves of corn
And if I could see people dwelling there
I would become joyous as when I was young

When I turned away from my Island
When the ship with no sail
Blew her great bellow and picked up steam
And set her course southward
My heart breaks and tears run from my eyes
Going to a cheerless land without songs
Where no thistles or daisies can be seen
Nor heather or rushes, not even a marsh

.