Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/52
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16
The First News frae Auld Scotland.
Thar’s monie a change gane owre my head,
That is unco careworn noo, and grey;
An’ monie a change owre the guid auld hame,
Sin’ sae weary I watch’d, the leelang day,
For the first news frae Auld Scotland.
That is unco careworn noo, and grey;
An’ monie a change owre the guid auld hame,
Sin’ sae weary I watch’d, the leelang day,
For the first news frae Auld Scotland.
We were first to hae trod on these alien shores;
An’ the hame-scenes cam’ freshly in ilka e’e,
Where we wandered sae aft wi’ the dear anes gane,
An’ the blue heather-bells bloom’d bonnilie;
Ilk heart was fu’ o’ the auld lang syne,
An’ the hearty cheerin’ went brawly roun’,
As we watched the vessel outowre the sea—
Tho’ but unco slowly—come sailing down
Wi’ the first news frae Auld Scotland.
An’ the hame-scenes cam’ freshly in ilka e’e,
Where we wandered sae aft wi’ the dear anes gane,
An’ the blue heather-bells bloom’d bonnilie;
Ilk heart was fu’ o’ the auld lang syne,
An’ the hearty cheerin’ went brawly roun’,
As we watched the vessel outowre the sea—
Tho’ but unco slowly—come sailing down
Wi’ the first news frae Auld Scotland.
I mind as weel’s it were but noo,
How I graspit ilk hand as it were my fier’s;
For it seem’d to me they had come straight out
Frae those I had left on the Greenock piers:
But wha, of a’ that I kenn’d sae weel,
Will gie a thought to the auld man noo?
For monie are dead, and mair are chang’d,
Sin’ I welcom’d sae leal the lang-sought crew,
Wi’ the first news frae Auld Scotland.
How I graspit ilk hand as it were my fier’s;
For it seem’d to me they had come straight out
Frae those I had left on the Greenock piers:
But wha, of a’ that I kenn’d sae weel,
Will gie a thought to the auld man noo?
For monie are dead, and mair are chang’d,
Sin’ I welcom’d sae leal the lang-sought crew,
Wi’ the first news frae Auld Scotland.
I hae made me a hame i’ the stranger lan’;
I hae gathered roun’ me hearts couthie and true;
And Otago’s bonnie banks and braes
Hae heartfelt ties to bind me noo;
Yet weel I ken they maun haud for me,
Nae memories sae leesome as cam’ to me then,
Owre the braid, braid seas frae my native land,
As I heard frae the lips o’ my countrymen
The first news frae Auld Scotland.
I hae gathered roun’ me hearts couthie and true;
And Otago’s bonnie banks and braes
Hae heartfelt ties to bind me noo;
Yet weel I ken they maun haud for me,
Nae memories sae leesome as cam’ to me then,
Owre the braid, braid seas frae my native land,
As I heard frae the lips o’ my countrymen
The first news frae Auld Scotland.
Catherine H. Richardson.