My Heart's In The Highlands
R. Burns


My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild deer and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birthplace of valour, the country of worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands forever I love.

Farewell to the mountains high covered wi' snow;
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild deer and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

This song was written by Burns after his third and final tour of the Highlands in 1787. Of the words Burns wrote 'The first half-stanza of this song is old, the rest is mine; and there exists some doubt as to whether these four lines belong to a Scotch or an Irish source, the pros and cons being pretty evenly balanced.'

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