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Drover tae Cowboy

from The Barren Fig (2019) by Bob Leslie

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about

Inspired by Rob Gibson’s book Plaids and Bandanas.
A former Highland cattle drover compares his past in Scotland to life in Montana circa 1880.

lyrics

Drover tae Cowboy

Ah remember auld fireside
Tales o the liftin
O kye tae Lochaber,
Wi the Prince yet oan Skye
Macmurchaidh Riabhaich
Surprised the bold reivers
Left nane bit their watchman
Tae tell hou they died

On the Montana ranges,
Yon story’s repeated
Wi rustlers no reivers,
Aa weel airmt wi guns
When Stuart’s men caught them
A week ago Sunday
At first there wis thirty,
Then there wis none

Fae drover tae cowboy
Fae Hielans tae homesteads
Ah crossed the Great Watter in ‘79
Wi iron wire fences
The railroads an Clearances
Naethin wis left fir a man o ma kind

As a boy Ah wid follae
Ma faither tae Falkirk
The Tryst wis in season
An then in its prime
We’d sleep in oor plaids,
An we’d drink an be merry
An trade wi the Drovers
Fae Berwick an Tyne


Nou Ah sit wi a rifle
At night ‘neath the Rockies
Oan guard wi the beasts
Against wolf pack an lion
Ah sing in the dairkness
Fir silence is lonely
It keeps the kye calm,
An it eases ma mind

When we round up the herds
We are Scots, Gaels, and Irish
We’re black and we’re Spanish
Shoshone and Crow
In the heat o the summer
An cauld o the winter
The work needs us aa
That’s aa we need tae know

And in early Summer
The mountains are bonnie
Ah hunt the wild deer
An Ah drink fae the spring
Ah’m savin ma siller
Tae send back tae Braemore
An bring ower the lassie
That maks ma hert sing

credits

from The Barren Fig (2019), released February 20, 2019

license

all rights reserved

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Bob Leslie Glasgow, UK

Bob Leslie's music is now available on a "NAME YOUR OWN PRICE" basis!
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“I can think of no other songwriter who has mined this rich vein
with such lyrical ease and with no mean ear for melody. ”
Alan Reid, Battlefield Band
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