He lookit our the loch o' Clyde
A sicht o' glamourie
For forests wide o' firren trees
Cam doun close to the sea

And whiles in opening o' the noo
A claw's abode he saw
A'ser about wi paliades
That stood up in a raw

The hovels were o' wattles made
An were chokefu o' reek
Lasses were liltin at the querm
A' browned wi the sweek

But what is yon at Kempock point
Canoes glide twa or three
A'hewd wi stonen axe, and fire
Out of a gude fir tree

An in them naked sauaes
He counted dozens twa,
Wi' wild beasts scored ther skin
The queerest ere he saw

Good blades had they, blunt at the end
That were baith sharp an' sheen
An spears that rattled when they flew
An bows an' arrows keen.

Fill'd the sails were wi the wind,
The oarsmen plied the car;
An' tenty the mid channel kept,
An' shunn'd the banky shore

A round about the galleys sides
The shields hung in a raw,
The mariners wi wonder gazed
On the heich hills they saw

An some row'd tip; an farrer up
Until Dunglass they gain, -
Aboon the great Rock of the Clyde
That tow'rs above the plain

There an the shore the camp was built,
For there the legions lay..
An Julius the rampart reard
To keep the clansat bay

Then mariners and soldiers
They mingled on the shore
These told of mountains, these of sea
And Isles ne'er seen before
Then camp an galleys vanished
Before that warlocks e'en
An lo! before his wond'ring gaze
Appears a peaceful scene

But changed the scene from what it was
Two thousand years ago;
Nor tree canoe the river bears,
Nor presence of a foe

But iron vessels to and fro
On varied pathways glide;
Some driv'n by wind, an some by steam
Right gallantly they glide

For Broomielaw those hold their course
Ascending 'gainst the stream
For Erin, or the Mudson those
Or the West highlands steam

The Warlock sees the glassy firth
A gay wi sails an boats.
Yachts, schooners, tugs, brigs an ships
A' kind o' thing that floats

He sees the Gareloch windin' up
Wi villas on its side;
An' Helenburghs snawy cots
Uprising frae the tid

The flow'ry fields o' Cardross fair
Appear'd before his e'en;
Dumbartons toun , Dumbartons rock
Beside the waves are seen

A fairy picture sure did then
Before that wizard shine
When hark an engine shakes the earth
And thunders down the line

The puffing smoke, the flying wheels
An the air shaking sound
Awakened that wizard hoar
Out of his seers stound.

The ferlies which he saw that day
He had nae words to say;
He waukened an` he only heard
Winds whistlin' on the brae

An' the whaups pipin' on the bent
An' beetles drowsy drone
An' muir cocks wi' their bic, bic, bir
Upon the moorland lone

Syne he to Kilmacolm sweet vale
Has ta en his homeward way
But never till he de'ed fogat
The ferlies o'that day.