[Verse 1]
G C
I'll tell it to you as they told it to me
G Am D
By the glow of the campfire burning
G Bm C
By the banks of the water where we sported and played
G D G
They once faced the fury of battle
[Chorus]
G C
And up through the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
G D
The pipes and the drummers played Scotland the Brave
G Bm C
But when they sailed home the piper's refrain
G C D G
Was "O, how cruel the volley"
[Verse 2]
G C
To one Duncan Campbell it came in a dream
G Am D
That he'd meet his fate where he never had been;
G Bm C
Where the blue waters roll and the stickerbush tear,
G D G
It's "Travel well, Duncan, I'll wait on you there.
[Verse 3]
G C
"For the French and the Indian have challenged our King."
G Am D
(To a soldier like Duncan, no need to explain.)
G Bm C
"'Tis many a time I've travelled the waves
G D G
To find my fate in the fire."
[Chorus]
G C
And up through the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
G D
The pipes and the drummers played Scotland the Brave
G Bm C
But when they sailed home the piper's refrain
G C D G
Was "O, how cruel the volley"
[Verse 4]
G C
From Fort William Henry their boats have shoved off
G Am D
To the North of Lake George in the morning;
G Bm C
To the place the Frenchmen call Carillon,
G D G
And the Indians: Ticonderoga.
[Verse 5]
G C
And the word struck Duncan like a thunderbolt there;
G Am D
Everyone knew of the warning.
G Bm C
"So, play us a tune to remember me by,
G D G
For tomorrow I'll not be returning."
[Chorus]
G C
And up through the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
G D
The pipes and the drummers played Scotland the Brave
G Bm C
But when they sailed home the piper's refrain
G C D G
Was "O, how cruel the volley"
[Verse 6]
G C
When the gunpowder flashed, the Highlanders died,
G Am D
Never again to walk the hillside.
G Bm C
In the wilderness green, in the sun and the rain,
G D G
It's here they're forever remaining.
[Verse 7]
G C
And I've told it to you as they told it to me,
G Am D
Of one Duncan Campbell and the Highland Brigade.
G Bm C
Where the campfire crackles in the summertime's wane,
G D G
Through the mist on the water comes the piper's refrain.
[Chorus]
G C
And up through the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
G D
The pipes and the drummers played Scotland the Brave
G Bm C
But when they sailed home the piper's refrain
G C D G
Was "O, how cruel the volley"