Old Friends

The tears have all been shed now
We've said our last goodbyes
His souls been blessed
He's laid to rest
Andit's now i feel alone
He was moer than just a father
A teacher my best friend
He can still be heard
In the tunes we shared
When we play them on our own

(chorus)
I never will forget him
For he made me "what i am"
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
And i miss him, the old man

As a boy he'd take me walking
By mountain field and stream
And he showed me things
Not known to kings
And secret between him and me
Like the colours of the pheasant
As he rises in the dawn
And how to fish and make a wish
Beside the holly tree

I thought he'd live forever
He seemed so big and strong
But the minutes fly
And the years roll by
For a father and a son
And suddenly when it happened
There was so much left unsaid
No second chance
To tell him thanks
For everything he's done

There's a spot in me heart which no colleen may own,
There's a depth in me soul never sounded or known,
There's a place in my mem'ry, my life that you fill,
No other can take it, no one ever will,

(chorus)
Sure i love the dear silver that shines in your hair,
And the brow that's all furrowed and wrinkled with care.
I kiss the dear fingers so toil-worn for me,
Oh, god bless you and keep you, mother machree!

Ev'ry sorrow or care in the dear days gone by,
Was made bright by the light of she smile in your eye,
Like a candle that's set in a window at night,
Your fond love has cheered me, and guided me right

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but know am found,
Was blind but know i see

"twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour i first believed!

The lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but know am found,
Was blind but now i see

Away, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens of roses!
In you let the minions of luxury rove;
Restore me the rocks where the snow-flake reposes,
Though they are scared to freedom and love:
Yet, caledonia; beloved are thy mountains,
Round their white summits though elements war;
Though cataracts foam 'stead of smooth-flowing fountains,
I sigh for the valley of dark loch nagar.

Ah! there my young footsteps in infancy wander'd;
My cap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid;
On chieftans long perish'd my memory ponder'd.
As daily i strode through the pine cover'd glade.
I sought not my home, till the day's dying glory
Gave praise to the rays of the bright polar star;
For fancy was cheer'd by traditional story,
Disclosed by the natives of dark loch nagar.

"shades of the dead! have i not heard your voices
Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale"
Surely the soul of the hero rejoices,
And rides on the wind, o'er his own highland vale.
Round loch nagar while the stormy mist gathers,
Winter presides in his cold icy car:
Clouds there encircle the forms of my fathers;
They dwell in the tempests of dark loch nagar.

Yet, caledonia; beloved are thy mountains,
I sigh for the valley of dark loch nagar.

"ill-starr'd, though brave, did no visions foreboding
Tell you that fate had forsaken your cause?"
Ah, were you destined to die at culloden,
Victory crown'd not your fall with applause:
Still were you happy in death's earthy slumber,
You rest with your clan in the caves of braemar;
The pibroch resounds, to the piper's loud number,
Your deeds on the echoes of dark loch nagar.

Years have roll'd on, loch nagar, since i left you,
Years must elapse ere i tread you again:
Nature or verdure and flowers has bereft you,
Yet still are you dearer than albion's plain.
England! thy beauties are tame and domestic
To one who has roved on the mountains afar:
Oh for the crags that are wild and majestic!
The steep frowning glories of dark loch nagar!

Yet, caledonia; beloved are thy mountains,
I sigh for the valley of dark loch nagar.

Of all the money that er'e i spent
I spent it ingood company
And all the harm that ere i've done
Alas it was to none but me
And all i have done
For want of wit
To memory now i can't recall
So fill ne the parting glass
Goodnight and joy be with you all
Of all the comrades that er'e i had
Are sorry for my going away
And all the sweetheart that er'e i had
Would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls, unto my lot
That i should rise and you should not
I will gently rise
And i'll softly call
Goodnight and joy be with you all

If i had enough money to spend
And leisure time to sit a while
There is a fair maid in this town
That sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosey cheeks and ruby lips
I own, she has my heart enthralled
So fill to me the parting glass
Goodnight and joy be with you all

There is not in the wild world a valley so sweet,
As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;
Oh! the last rays of feeling and life must depart,
Ere, the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart,
Ere, the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart.

Yet it was not that nature had shed o'er the scene,
Her purest of crystal and brightest of green;
"twas not her soft magic of streamlet or rill,
Oh! no, it was something more exquisite still.
Oh! no, it was something more exquisite still.

"twas that friends, the belov'd of my bosom, were near,
Who made every dear scene of enchantment more dear;
And who felt how the best charms of nature improve,
When we see them reflected from looks that we love,
When we see them reflected from looks that we love.

Sweet vale of avoca, how calm could i rest,
In thy bosom of shade with the friends i love best,
Where the storm that we feel in this cold world should cease,
And our hearts like thy waters, be mingled in peace,
And our hearts like thy waters, be mingled in peace.

Two island swans
They mated for life
And his faithful heart
Would not consider any other wife

With three years of peaceful joy
With the rushes of the pond
Proud and gentle was the love
Of the last two island swans.

There love was like a circle
With no beginning and no end
With his lady by his side
A treasure and best friend

And the pond was oh so peaceful
And the rising of the sun
Young and free as theisland breeze
Their lives had just begun

Till a dark day in november
With the seering cold that starts
Stalked the hunter with his bow
And put an arrow through her heart

(chorus)
And the cold wind blow
He was brave but he lay low
By her body in the isle of mist
I saw her give him one last cold kiss
One last cold kiss

Now swans like people
Talk of only one in this fair side
Though they brought him 20 ladies
He would take no other bride

And they say he will not move
From the place where she did fall
Once so proud he's beaten now
And he will not rise at all

(chorus)

(chorus)
O cruel is the snow
That sweeps glencoe
And covers the grave o donald
And cruel was the foe
That raped glencoe
And murderd the house of
Macdonald

They came in a blizzard
We offered them heat
A roof o'er their heads
Dry shoes for their feet
We wined them and dined them
They ate of our meat
And they slept in the house of
Macdonald

(chorus)

They came from fort william
Wi' murder in mind
The campbells had orders
King william had signed
Put all to the sword
These words were underlined
And leave none alive called
Macdonald

(chorus)

They came in the night
When the men were asleep
This band o' argyles
Through snow soft and deep
Like murdering foxes
Among helpless sheep
They slaughtered the house of
Macdonald

(chorus)

Some died in their beds
At the hand of the foe
Some fled in the night
And were lost in the snow
Some lived to accuse him
That struck the first blow
But gone was the house of
Macdonald