The Roving Dies Hard

MY NAME'S JOHN MACKENZIE, I'M A MASTER-AT-ARMS, I CARRY MY SWORD AND MY SHIELD ON MY SHOULDER

I'VE FOUGHT EVERY FIGHT FROM THE DON TO THE DANUBE, NONE BRAVER, NONE BETTER, NONE BOLDER

I'VE STOOD WITH MONTROSE AND A-GAINST HIM, I'VE BATTLED WITH SWEDES AND WITH DANES

AND I'VE CARRIED THE STANDARD OF MANY'S THE ARMY, THROUGH MANY'S THE BLOODY CAMPAIGN

BUT NOW AS I SIT IN THE FIRELIGHT IT SEEMS THERE'S A DISTANT HORIZON TO THE SWORD BUCKLE'S GLEAM

TILL A PULL AT THE WINE BRINGS AN OLD SOLDIER'S DREAM FROM AFAR, FOR THE ROVING' DIES HARD

 

I'M CALUM MCLEAN, I'M A TRAPPER BY TRADE. AND IT'S FORTY LONG YEARS SINCE I SAW TOBERMORY

THROUGH CANADA'S FORESTS I'VE CARRIED MY BLADE AND THE PINE TREES COULD TELL YOU MY STORY

NOW MY WANDERING DAYS THEY ARE OVER, AND I'M THANKFUL TO STILL BE ALIVE

FOR I'VE MANY'S THE KINSMAN WHO DIED IN THE HULKS AT THE END OF THE BOLD FORTY-FIVE**

I'VE AN INDIAN LASS & I'LL NEVER DECEIVE HER, BUT THERE'S NIGHTS WHEN I'D UP WITH MY GUN & I'D LEAVE HER

FOR THE LAND WHERE THE BEAR AND THE FOX AND THE BEAVER ARE LORD, FOR THE ROVING' DIES HARD

MY NAME'S WILLIE CAMPBELL, I'M A SHIP'S ENGINEER AND I KNOW EVERY BERTH BETWEEN LISBON AND LARGO

I'VE SWEATED MORE DIESEL IN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS THAN A BIG TANKER TAKES FOR A CARGO

OF THE GOOD TIMES I'VE ALWAYS HAD PLENTY, WHEN THE WHISKY AND THE WOMEN WERE WILD

& THERE'S MANY'S THE WEAN WITH THE RED LOCKS O' THE CAMPBELL’S WHO'S NE'ER SEEN THE COAST OF

ARGYLL

BUT NOW AS THE FREIGHTERS UNLOAD ON THE QUAY, THE SOUND OF THE ENGINES IS CALLING TO ME

AND IT SINGS ME A SONG OF THE SUN AND THE SEA AND THE STARS, FOR THE ROVING' DIES HARD

 

I'VE TUNED UP MY FIDDLE, I'VE ROSINED MY BOW, I'VE SUNG OF THE CLANS AND THE CLEAR CRYSTAL FOUNTAINS

I CAN TELL YOU THE ROAD AND THE MILES FRAE DUNDEE TO THE BACK OF ALASKA'S WILD MOUNTAINS

WHEN MY TRAVELLING DAYS THEY ARE OVER, AND THE NEXT OF THE ROVERS HAS COME

HE'LL TAKE ALL MY SONGS AND HE'LL SING THEM AGAIN TO THE BEATS OF A DIFFERENT DRUM

AND IF EVER I'M ASKED WHY THE SCOTS ARE BEGUILED, I'LL LIFT UP MY GLASS IN A HEALTH, AND I'LL SMILE

AND I'LL TELL THEM THAT FORTUNE'S DEALT SCOTLAND THE WILDEST OF CARDS…….FOR THE ROVIN' DIES

HARD

 

 

*Recorded by “Off Kilter”

** 'The bold '45' refers to the Jacobite Uprising, or the 1745 Rebellion, in which Charles Edward Stuart

(Bonnie Prince Charlie, The Young Pretender), led his Highland army to challenge the Hanoverian King

George II and reclaim the throne for his father. It was a disastrous and abortive campaign which ended in the

Highlanders' defeat at Culloden the following year.