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The Thistle

from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) by John Collie (1834-1893)

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lyrics

THOUGH Scotia canna boast her palms , Her spicy shrubs , nor healing balms , Yet she can boast a plant that claims As much respect As a ' Arabia's costly gems Tied in a sack . Come forth , thou thistle , rear thy head , Great type of Freedom's charter'd blade ; Point to the spots where thou'st been fed On England's gallants ; Wha aften i ' the dust were laid By Scotia's callants . On hillock , height , or mountain drear , By rippling rill and river clear , When foreign foe e'er ventur'd near , To gaur us smart , Thou like a patriot wast there , To tak thy part . Full many a gallant loun has faen , Auld Scotia's honours to maintain , And that thy head might still remain Unscathed , unseered , To deck our noble father lan ' , Loved and revered . In days of yore , when I was free To rant and play upon the lea , The jags and scars I gat frae thee , There's few that kens ; Yet a ’ your fauts I noo forgie , Thou best ofriens . There may be some wha slight thy name , And turn thy greatness into game ; But were they here we would them tame , And gar them claw ; O'thy rough shanks we'd mak ’ a flame , And roast them a ' . Then lang may thy auld prickly pow Be seen to nod on ilka knowe , And may ye never need to bow To foreign chiels ; But should they come , let's make a vow To jag their heels .

credits

from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856), track released December 12, 2020
John Collie (1834-1893) - lyrics

Dave Edwards - banjo, harmonica, vocal

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fiffdimension Featherston, New Zealand

Outsider music from Aotearoa NZ and beyond, by Dave Edwards and collaborators (from 1856 to 2024).

Spans acoustic & electric noise, rock, folk, spoken word, postpunk, free jazz, gamelan, lo fi, electronica, & ethnomusicology.

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