Source: Sankey "Sacred Songs and Solos" no 982
Date: written in New York by Mary Ann Demarest circa 1861. This was one of the first 6 gospel songs ever recorded, sung for the Columbia record company by Glasgow singer/evangelist William MacEwan in London in 1911
Tune: Scotch Air
Recorded by the Low Country Boys on the 2005 cd "Gran Time Comin", and also featured on the 2007 Smithsonian Folkways compilation cd "Sound Neighbours".
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I am far frae ma hame a’ I’m weary aftenwhiles
For tha langed-for hamebringin’ an’ my Faither’s welcome smiles
An’ I’ll ne’er be fu’ content, until mine een do see
The gowden gates o’ Heaven, an’ my ain countrie.
The earth is fleck’d wi’ flowers, mony tinted, fresh and gay
The birdies warble blithely, for my Faither made them sae
But these sights an’ these soun’s will as naething be to me
When I hear the angels singin’ in my ain countrie
I’ve His guid word of promise that some gladsome day the King
To His ain royal palace His banished hame will bring
Wi’ een an’ wi hert rinnin’ owre we shall see
Tha King in His beauty in oor ain countrie
My sins hae been mony, an’ ma sorrows hae been sair
But there they’ll never vex me, nor be remember’d mair
For His bluid has made me white an’ His han’ shall dry my e’e
When He brings me hame at last to my ain countrie
Sae little noo I ken o’ yon blessèd bonnie place
I only ken it’s hame, whaur we shall see His face
It wad surely be eneuch, for evermair to be
I’ the glory o’ His presence in oor ain countrie
Like a bairn to its mither, a wee birdie to its nest
I wad fain be gangin’ noo unto my Saviour’s breast
For He gathers in His bosom witless, worthless lambs like me
An’ carries them Himsel’ to His ain countrie
He is faithfu’ that has promised an’ He’ll surely come again
He’ll keep His tryst wi’ me, at what oor A dinna ken
But He bids me still to wait, an ready aye to be
To gang at ony moment to my ain countrie
Sae I’m watchin’ aye an’ singin’ o my hamelan’ as I wait
For the soun’in’ o’ His fitfa’, this side the gowden gate
God gie His grace to ilka ane wha’ listens noo to me
That we a’ may gang in gladness to oor ain countrie.
