SATB divisi, 5’50”

I’ve heard them lilting at our ewe-milking,
Lasses a-lilting before the dawn of day;
But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning—
The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.

At bughts, in the morning, nae blythe lads are scorning,
The lasses are lonely, and dowie, and wae;
Nae daffin’, nae gabbin’, but sighing and sabbing,
Ilk ane lifts her leglin and hies her away.

We’ll hear nae mair lilting at our ewe-milking;
The women and bairns are heartless and wae;
Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning—
The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.

Jean Elliot of Minto

Based on a tune found in Skene manuscripts, the melody of this Scottish bagpipe lament is often played in solemn memorial events. Jean Elliot of Minto (1727 – 1805) wrote poetry to the tune as a lament to the deaths of James IV and 10,000 men at the 1513 Battle of Flodden. The text describes the grief of women and children at the loss of their young men, and contrasts between happier times and the devastation following the battle.

World premiere by Victoria Chorale, 19 August 2018.

This work is published by Muziksea.