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Lochaber's Lone Star
by William Allan
circa 1875

In bonnie Lochaber 'mong brown heather hills,
In bonnie Lochaber by clear flowing rills,
When Leven's dark waters glide on in their glee,
I know a wee cot that is dear, dear to me;
There sweet Fassifern in her loveliness dwells,
And bright is the home 'neath the grace of her spells,
Than flowerets or rills she is bonnier far,
I joy when I sing of Lochaber's lone star.

As tender and pure as the eye of the dawn,
As fair and as blythe as the light-leaping fawn;
O!  surely her heart is the home of that love
Which springs in its beauty from fountains above.
Ye soft winds that blow o'er Lochaber's green braes,
O!  let your sweet music be ever her praise;
Ye wild sweeping tempests when rolling in war,
Be ever your song of Lochaber's lone star.

Her merry voice sounds as the whispers of streams,
Its echo still haunts me, I hear it in dreams;
Her smile from my memory will never depart,
Its sunshine still clings with delight to my heart.
Ye angels of goodness!  O!  hear ye my prayer,
Guard ever your sister from sadness or care;
Let no blighting sorrows the happiness mar,
Of sweet Fassifern, my Lochaber's lone star.

Editor's Note: Probably from Allan's "Heather Bells, or Poems and Songs" (or from his earlier work, "Hame-spun Lilts.)  Selections from this publication were featured in The Celtic Magazine, where "Lochaber's Lone Star" was published in their November 1878 issue, with the dedication "To Fassifern Cameron Stewart, Nether-Lochaber."  The November 1875 issue of The Celtic Magazine mentions William Allan's recently published "Heather Bells, or Poems and Songs," so this poem is dated circa 1875.