1: O the chill winds o Autumn cam, the frost is nippin keen,
And withered lie the bonnie flooers that bloomed sae fresh and green;
And withered noo I’ve grown masel, auld age ne’er comes its lane,
It brings grey hairs upon your heid whar gowden locks hae been.

Now chill and lonely is the hearth that aince did ring wi glee,
And empty chairs sit roond the hoose whar bairnies used tae be,
And broken now the closeness of the families former ties,
They’re sae far across the sea ma bairns canna hear ma cries.

2: Their faces I’m imagining are changed as weel as mine,
And lost the sunny smiles they had in days gane by lang syne;
But here’s the memory o the past, what joy it brings tae me,
It kindles new love in ma hert for them tha’s o’er the sea.

There’s mony ups and doons in life and some have got to stray,
But love’s the only pilot sure tae guide us on oor way;
I canna leave ma native home, I winna cross the sea,
Mang Scotland’s bonnie heather hills I’ll bide until I dee.

John Huband plays the tune to finish with a repeated last stanza:

There’s mony ups and doons in life and some have got to stray,
But love’s the only pilot sure tae guide us on oor way;
I canna leave ma native home, I winna cross the sea,
Mang Scotland’s bonnie heather hills I’ll bide until I dee.