When war had broke in on the peace of auld men,
And frae Chelsea to arms they were summon'd again;
Twa vet'rans grown gray, wi' their muskets sair soil'd,
Wi' a sigh were relating how hard they had toil'd;
The drum it was beating, to fight they incline,
But aye they look back to the days o' langsyne.

Oh! Davy, man, weel thou remembers the time,
When twa brisk young callans, and baith i' our prime,
The Duke bade us conquer, and show'd us the way,
And mony a braw chiel we laid low on that day;
Yet I'd venture, fu' cheerfu', this auld trunk o' mine,
Could William but lead, and I fight, as langsyne.

But garrison duty is a' we can do,
Tho' our arms are worn weak yet our hearts are still true;
We carena for dangers by land or by sea,
For Time is turn'd coward and no thee and me;
And tho' at the change we should sadly repine,
Youth winna return, nor the strength o' langsyne.

When after our conquests, it joys me to mind
How thy Janet caress'd thee and my Meg was kind;
They follow'd our fortunes, tho' never so hard,
And we cared na for plunder wi' sic a reward;
E'en now they're resolv'd baith their hames to resign,
And will follow us yet for the sake o' langsyne.