John Hughson                                SA1974.06.8 

A well known song composed in 1822 by Carolina Oliphant, also known as Lady Nairne (1766-1845). Her third verse is included though John does not sing it. He said he learned it from a gramophone record. (Roud no. 23799).

Oh! rowan tree! Oh! rowan tree! Thou’lt aye be dear to me,
Entwined thou art wi’ mony ties o’ hame and infancy.
Thy leaves were aye the first o’ spring, thy flooers the summer pride;
There were no sich a bonny tree oer a’ the countryside.
Oh! rowan tree !

How fair wert thou in summer time, thy leaves like clusters white.
How rich and rare thy autumn’s blooms, wi’ berries red and ripe. 
On thy fair stem was mony a name, that noo nae mair I’ll see,
They’re still engrav-ed on my heart, forgot they ne’er can be!
Oh! Rowan tree!

[We sat aneath thy spreadin’ shade, The bairnies round thee ran,
They pu’d thy bonnie berries red, and necklaces they strang;
My mother, oh! I see her still, she smil’d our sports to see,
Wi’ little Jeannie on her lap, and Jamie at her knee.
Oh! Rowan tree!]

Then there arose my father’s prayers, in holy evenings calm
How sweet was then my mother’s voice, in the Martin psalm      [ Martyrs]
Now a’ is gone!  we meet nae mair beneath the rowan tree.
But hallowed thoughts around thee twine o’ hame and infancy.
Oh! rowan tree!