O come a´ ye tramps and hawker-lads an´ gaitherers o´ bla´

That tramp the country roun´ and roun´, come listen one and a´

I´ll tell tae ye a rovin´ tale, an´ places I hae been

Far up into the snowy north, or sooth by Gretna Green.



I´ve seen the high Ben Nevis that gangs towerin´ tae the moon

I´ve been roun´ by Crieff an´ Callander an´ by Bonny Doon

I´ve been by Nethy´s silvery tide an´ places ill tae ken

Far up into the stormy north lies Urquart´s fairy glen



Sometimes noo I laugh tae mysel´ when dodgin´ alang the road

Wi´ a bag o´ meal slung upon my back, my face as broun´s a toad

Wi´ lumps o´cheese and tattie-scones or breid an´ braxie ham

Nae thinking whar´ I´m comin´ frae nor thinkin´ whar I´m gang.



I´m happy in the summer-time beneath the dark blue sky

Nae thinkin´ in the mornin´ at nicht where i´m gang to lie

Bothies or byres or barns, or oot amangst the hay

And if the weather does permit, I´m happy a´ the day.



Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond, they´ve oft been seen by me

The Dee, the Don, the Devron, that a´ flows tae the sea

Dunrobin Castle, by the way, I nearly had forgot

And the reckless stanes o´cairn that mairks the hoose o´ John o´ Groat.



I´ve been by bonny Gallowa´, an´ often roun´ Stranraer

My business leads me anywhere, I travel near an´ far

I´ve got that rovin´ notion I wouldna like tae loss

For It´s my daily fare an´ as much´ll pay my doss.



I think I´ll gang tae Paddy´s Lan´, I´m makin´ up my mind

For Scotland´s greatly altered noo, I canna raise the wind

But if I can trust in Providence, if Providence should prove true

I´ll sing ye´s a´ of Erin´s Isle when I come back to you