"My Ain Countrie"<br /><br />Lucy Isabelle Marsh<br /><br />Victor 45183<br /><br />1914<br /><br />Words by Mary Lee Demarest<br /><br />Music by Ione T. Hanna<br /><br />I am far frae my hame, an' I'm weary aftenwhiles,<br />For the lang'd-for-hame-bringing, an' my Father's welcome smiles,<br />I'll ne'er be fu' content, until my een do see<br />The gow den gates of heav'n, an' my ain countrie.<br />The earth is fleck'd wi' flow'rs, mony-tinted-fresh and gay;<br />The birdies warble blithely, for my Father made them sae;<br />But these sichts an' these soun's wil as naething be to me,<br />When I hear the angels singing in my ain countrie.<br /><br />I've his gude word of promise, that, some gladsome day, the King,<br />To his ain royal palace, his banished hame will bring<br />Wi' een' an' wi' heart running owre we shall see<br />"The King in his beauty," an' our ain countrie.<br />My sins hae been mony, and my sorrows hae been sair;<br />But there they'll never vex me, nor be remembered mair,<br />For his bluid hath made me white, and his hand shall dry my e'e,<br />When he brings me hame at last to my ain countrie.<br /><br />Before “My Ain Countrie” became a hymn, it was published as a poem. <br /><br />The words are by an American named Mary Augusta Lee Demarest, and they were first published in the New York Observer in December 1861. <br /><br />“My Ain Countrie” is about religious longing. The “countrie” yearned for is heaven. <br /><br />The speaker feels “far from my home” and “weary.” <br /><br />A Scottish influence is evident in the title.<br /><br />“My Ain Countrie” was Lizzie Borden's favorite song.<br /><br />________________<br /><br />Lucy Isabelle Marsh was born on April 10, 1878.
