Hairst the licht o' the müne 
To mak a siller goun; 
And the gowdan licht o' the sün 
To mak a pair o' shoon:

Gether the draps o' dew 
To hing about your throat; 
And the wab o' the watergaw 
To wark yoursel' a coat: 

And you will ride oniewhaur 
Upon the back o' the wind;
And gang through the open door 
In the wa' at the world's end.

hairst — harvest
licht — light
siller — silver
gowdan — golden
shoon — shoes
gether — gather
draps — drops
hing — hang
water-gaw — water-spider
wark — work, make
oniewhaur — anywhere
gang — go
wa' — wall

Text Authorship:

• by William Soutar (1898 - 1943), "Sang", appears in Poems in Scots and English, first published 1961 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Martin Dalby (b. 1942), "Sang", published 1964 [ high voice and piano ], from Bairn-rhymes [sung text not yet checked]
• by Sheena Phillips (b. 1958), "Sang", copyright © 2000 [ satb chorus ], Canasg music
      Publisher: Canasg music [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 69