Like Snow-Wreaths in Thaw

The Gentle Memento Mori of "The Land o' the Leal"

“The Land o’ the Leal” is poignant and longing, sentimental but not sappy, capturing that yearning we all feel for a world where things are made right. When I first came across it in the 2018 BBC adaptation of Little Women, I was immediately taken with it, memorizing it for a lullaby and a dish-washing song.

The singer is a dying wife who is "wearing away" to heaven, "the land of the leal," or “loyal." She tells her husband John (some versions say "Jean") not to lose heart. Their child, whom they'd lost while she was still just a "bonnie bairn," is there, and so are many of their friends. But now that old sorrow is wearing away, too. She urges John to stay loyal and true. His own day is wearing away, and she'll meet him in paradise. 

The lyrics change slightly with every production I've heard, but this is the oldest form that I could find.

I'm wearin' awa', John,
Like snaw wreaths in thaw, John,
I'm wearin' awa',
To the Land o' the Leal. 
There's nae sorrow there, John,
There's neither cauld nor care, John,
The day's ay fair
I' the Land o' the Leal.

O, dry the glist'nin' ee, John,
My soul lang-s to be free, John,
And angels beckon me
To the Land o' the Leal.
Ye have been leal and true, John,
Your task's near ended now, John,
And I'll welcome you
To the Land o' the Leal.

Our bonny bairn's there, John,
She was baith gude and fair, John,
And we grudg'd her sair
To the Land o' the Leal.
But sorrow's sell wears past, John,
And joy's comin' fast, John,
The joy that's ay to last,
I' the Land o' the Leal.

Our friends are a' gane, John,
We've lang been left alane, John,
We'll a' meet again,
I' the Land o' the Leal.
Then fare ye weel, my ain John,
This warld's cares are vain, John,
We'll meet, and ay be fain,
I' the Land o' the Leal.

Lady Nairne, Carolina Oliphant

There's a bit of a controversy surrounding the song's authorship. Many believed it to be by Robert Burns, but it is now accepted that the true author was Lady Nairne, Carolina Oliphant, writing under the pen name "Mrs. Bogan of Bogan." Like Robert Burns, she compiled Scottish folksongs and added many of her own compositions, including "The Land o' the Leal,” which she wrote for a friend who had just lost a child. 

Memento mori, remembering that you will die, often evokes images of gravestones and skulls when you will be absent from the body, but this Scottish air presages the sweet reunions when you will be present in the Lord.

At my husband's birthday one year, I asked guests to bring a poem, song, or Bible verse to share with him, and I decided to sing "The Land o' The Leal." An hour before the party, he received a phone call that a dear friend had passed away suddenly. Singing the words, "And we grudged her sore / To the land o’ the leal" had added poignancy, as did the promise, “We’ll meet, and we’ll be fine / In the land o’ the leal.”

The 2018 adaptation of Little Women takes the liberty of calling it Marmee and Father’s favorite song, and we first hear it at the girls’ first crisis, when they learn that Father might be dying. Beth plays a few chords to comfort herself, but a frightened Jo tells her to stop: she does not want to contemplate Father going to the land o’ the leal just yet.

The full song reappears when that fear has passed, Beth has recovered from her illness, and Father has returned home. The March sisters sing it (in breathtaking harmony), and the camera pans the idyllic room of peaceful, smiling faces. But in life - especially life in 1862 America - such scenes do not promise lasting peace, much less permanent safety from death and danger. John Brooke marches to war. And we all know that the March family will not have many more Christmases with the quiet sister who, in a moment of crisis, thought of the land o’ the leal.

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Hannah Rarity sings it here:

Andy Stewart sings it here:

And here's the Little Women version: