Gilgarry's Glen

'Twas a man from the Island of Sky, they say
Came to the harsh land of this glen
With his hands and his heart and the sweat of his brow
He made the land good again

Through his children the seeds of the music were passed
And the secrets of tilling the land
And the ocean nearby held a kinship so deep
Giving food up into their hands

And the folks in the cities have passed us by
They don't know how they got there and don't care why
But there's a place we recall all the hardships back then
Down here in Gilgarry's Glen

Generations passed by and the coal companies came
And the younger men all moved away
Progress, they said, couldn't wait on the dead
And they wound up in early graves

Soon the highways were finished and the trestles stood high
As America took up the slack
And there's many a Scot down in old Boston town
Wishing that he could only get back

And the folks in the cities have passed us by
They don't know how they got there and don't care why
But there's a place we recall all the hardships back then
Down here in Gilgarry's Glen

Nowadays life is simpler; the land now is still
Now and then a few tourists stop by
And they're charmed by the fiddlers whose tunes tell the tale
Of that man from the Island of Sky

And the folks in the cities have passed us by
They don't know how they got there and don't care why
But there's a place we recall all the good times back then
Down here in Gilgarry's Glen

Yes, if life came by twice, we'd all do it again
Down here in Gilgarry's Glen