Hame o Mine

First Published 1920
Writer/composer W. Mackenzie Murdoch Roud RN23845

Music Hall Performers Harry Lauder
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Hutchison, Robin; Scotland; 1960-89
Peoples, George; Ireland; 1970s
Modern performances
Kenneth McKellar		 

Away in the Northland, the land of the mountain,
There stands a wee hoose on the breist o' the brae,
The streamlet runs past like a clear chrystal fountain,
The lark in the cloud sings an ear hauning lay
Away in the wildwood the red deer is bounding,
The wind carries sweetly the scent o' the pine,
Afar in the valley the pibroch is sounding,
The scene of my childhood, That dear hame o' mine.

Hame o' mine hame o' mine where I dwelt in lang, lang syne
There's where my heart and my thoughts are forever,
A wee thackit cottage, That dear hame o' mine.
A wee thackit cottage That dear hame o' mine.

I sit and I gaze o'er the wide lonely prairie,
There's nought meets the eye on that far stretching plain,
In fancy I see thro' a mist, dear Glengary,
In fancy I see that dear cot, once again
Its walls shine like iv'ry, so dazzling its whiteness,
The old thackit roof is unaltered by time,
The rapids and prairie to me are delightness,
Oh! give me that wee hoose, That dear hame o' mine.

A song written the violinist Mackenzie Murdoch in 1920, performed in the Halls both by Murdoch and his friend Harry Lauder. It has featured in the repertoire of a number of Scottish traditional singers. A brief biography of Mackenzie Murdoch appears below.

William Mackenzie Murdoch (1870-1923), known as Mac to his friends was professionally billed as The Scottish Paganini. He was a violinist and singer whose career was closely linked to that of his friend Harry Lauder. He was the son of a writer and poet and had shown great musical talent at an early age, his professional performing career starting in the 1890s when he toured Music Halls and other venues firstly with the comic WF Frame, and later with Lauder. He went on to build a successful solo career as a composer, singer and violinist, and toured throughout the English-speaking world.

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