Come, all ye jolly shepherd lads that whistle thro' the glen
I'll tell ye all a secret that the courtiers dinnae ken
What is the greatest bliss that the tongue o' man can name
Is tae woo a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame

Chorus (after each verse):
When the kye come hame
When the kye come hame
'Tween the gloamin' and the mirk
When the kye come hame

'Tis no' beneath the burgenet, nor yet beneath the crown
It's no' on couch of velvet, nor yet on bed of down
It's beneath the spreading birch in the dell without a name
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie when the kye come hame

See yonder pawky shepherd lad that lingers on the hill
His sheep are in the fauld, and his lambs are lying still
But he daurnae gang tae bed for his heart is in a flame
To meet his bonnie lassie when the kye come hame

Awa' wi' fame and fortune, what comfort can it gie?
And a' the airts that prey upon man's life and liberty
Gie me the highest joy that the heart o' man can frame
My bonnie, bonnie lassie when the kye come hame

Footnote:  One of the finest songs written by James Hogg (1770 - 1835), "The Ettrick Shepherd", poet, songwriter and novelist.  He was born in 1770 at Ettrickhall Farm in Ettrick Forest, the second of four sons of Robert Hogg and Margaret Laidlaw.  In latter years he claimed the same birthdate as our National Bard, Robert Burns, of 25 January in the year 1772, but the parish records show that he was baptised on 9 December 1770.  Like Sir Walter Scott, he was an avid collector of Border Ballads and songs and his two volumes of The Jacobite Relics of Scotland (1819 - 21) are an invaluable source of traditional song material.