A mile frae Pencaitland, on the road to the sea
Stands a yew tree a thousand years old,
And the old women swear by the grey o' their hair
That it knows what the future will hold.
For the shadows of Scotland stand round it,
'Mid the kail and the corn and the kye,
And the hopes and the fears of a thousand long years,
Under the Lothian sky.
Chorus:
My bonny yew tree,
Tell me what did you see.
Did you look through the haze o' the long summer days
To the south and the far English border?
All the bonnets o' steel on Flodden's far field,
Did they march by your side in good order?
Did you ask them the price of their glory
When you heard the great slaughter begin?
For the dust o' their bones would rise up frae the stones
To bring tears to the eyes o' the wind.
Chorus
Not once did you speak for the poor and the weak
When the moss-troopers lay in your shade
To count all the plunder and hide frae the thunder
And share out the spoils o' the raid.
But you saw the smiles o' the gentry,
And the laughter of lords at their gains,
For when the poor hunt the poor across mountain and moor,
The rich man can keep them in chains.
Chorus
Did you no' think to tell when John Knox himsel'
Preached under your branches sae black,
To the poor common folk who would lift up the yoke
O' the bishops and priests frae their backs.
For you knew the bargain he sold them,
And freedom was only one part.
For the price o' their souls was a gospel so cold,
It would freeze up the joy in their hearts.
Chorus
And I thought as I stood and laid hands on your wood
That it might be a kindness to fell you.
One kiss o' the axe and you're freed frae the racks
O' the sad bloody tales that we tell you.
But a wee bird flew out from your branches
And sang out as never before,
And the words of the song were a thousand years long,
And to learn them's a long thousand more.
My bonny yew tree,
Tell me what can you see?