Colin's Cattle

1. Cro-Challain would gie me, Sae cannie and free
Their milk on the hilltop when nane's bye tae see.
Cro-Challain are bonnie, Cro-Challain are braw; 
Like the wing o' the muir-hen, Brown spotted an' a'. 

2. Cro-Challain wad gie me, wherever they browse,
Their milk without fetter, Among the green knowes.
Cro-Challain sae cannie, In the heat o' the day, 
They lie 'mang the heather While their calves round them play. 

3. There 's a load on my bosom ; There 's a tear in my e'e; 
I am wae and fortochten ; There 's nae sleepin' for me. 
Cro-Challain are bonnie, Cro-Challain are braw; 
Like the wing o' the muir-hen, Brown spotted an' a'. 

4. Nae sleepin', nae sleepin', Nae sleepin'for me
Till they come that I'm seekin, I maun ne'er close and ee. 
Cro-Challain are bonnie, Cro-Challain sae dear;
They aya fill the milkpail, What braw calves they rear.


"Crodh Chailein" ("Colin's cattle") is a milking song recorded by Alan Lomax in South Uist in the 1950s: it is a lullaby whispered to the cows to keep them quiet during milking, and to stimulate them magically in the production of milk.