At sixteen years, he was a man.
He left a heather covered land
To soldier for a foreign cause,
Campaigning in their foreign wars.
At sixteen years, wounded was he,
His body torn in misery
And round about him the war did rage,
This veteran of such young age.
The rampant lion, the misty glen,
The bubbling burns and the mighty ben.
These are the things that were so dear
To the Scottish Pioneer.
The was was over, the world was torn
And torment in his soul was born.
But wanderlust had taken hold,
He sailed away to look for gold.
In Hartley's land of great extremes,
He set out to fulfill his dreams
And toiling under the tropic skies,
Men around him died like flies.
The rampant lion, the misty glen,
The bubbling burns and the mighty ben.
These are the things that were so dear
To the Scottish Pioneer.
The likes of him have lent a hand
To build this new and promised land
And now he feels his work is done,
Out in the land of burning sun.
He will not sweat or toil no more,
His spirit cries for misty shores
And the green hills are calling him
Like a piobroch in the wind.
The rampant lion, the misty glen,
The bubbling burns and the mighty ben.
These are the things that were so dear
To the Scottish Pioneer.