The Flowers of the Forest

[FriedaKateM]

By Alison Rutherford Cockburn (1712-1794)

I've seen the smiling
Of Fortune beguiling;
I've felt all its favours, & found its decay;
Sweet was its blessing,
Kind its caressing;
But now it is fled--fled far away.

I've seen the forest
Adorned the foremost,
With flowrs of the fairest, most pleasant & gay;
Sae bonnie was their blooming!
Their scent the air perfuming!
But now they are withered & a'wede away

I've seen the morning
With gold the hills adorning,
And loud tempest storming before the mid-day,
I've seen Tweed's silver streams,
Shining in the sunny beams
Grow drumly & dark as he rowed on his way.

Oh fickle Fortune!
Why this cruel sporting?
Oh, why still perplex us, poor sons of a day?
Nae mair your smiles can cheer me,
Nae mair your frowns can fear me;
For the flowers of the forest ar a' wede away.

Note: The Flowers of the Forest in this & the song are the men of Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire who fell at the battle of Flodden. I also heard on YouTube the pipes playing this song, with the words.

[sandyc]

Note: The Flowers of the Forest in this & the song are the men of Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire who fell at the battle of Flodden. I also heard on YouTube the pipes playing this song, with the words.

Hi Joan, it is generally accepted that this commemorates the Battle of Flodden when the Scottish army was routed and many soldiers from all levels of society never returned. It was reported that a member of each noble family fell and that included James IV himself. It was a very significant moment in Scotttish history.

Sandy