The high road...

On Thursday night, I'll be singing this song with our church choir for a concert performance. It's always been one of my favorite ballads, so mournful and romantic. But after seeing Loch Lomond when I was twenty years old, the song has an even greater meaning for me. Scotland is a beautiful country, and Loch Lomond is a lovely place to linger on the way to the Highlands. My heart will be in the heather as I sing:

Loch Lomond
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.

Chorus

O ye’ll tak’ the high road and I’ll tak’ the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye.
But me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.

‘Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side o’ Ben Lomond.
Where in deep purple hue, the highland hills we view,
And the moon comin’ out in the gloamin’.

The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring,
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping:
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again,
Tho’ the waeful may cease frae their greeting.