The Gnarled Old Tree
tune – My Mothers Last Goodbye

I sat beneath the gnarled old tree one April afternoon
Thinking back many years perhaps with hints of gloom
A thriving landscape once was there now only ruins remain
They left for lands across the sea a better life to gain.

One final act before they left they planted a Scots Pine
A living memorial it would become in time
For generations following a link with the ‘homeland’
And for the child they’d leave behind it was her father’s ‘hand’.

Set sail they did with broken hearts a daughter sick did leave
Away in that far country their hearts for her did grieve
Their ‘passage’ booked for many months their savings now all spent
Grandparents now her guardians they prayed she’d be content.

As the child grew older her health it did improve
Along with family members to New Zealand she did move
The family reunited when ‘tearfully’ did meet
They praised and thanked the ‘Mighty One’ the family now complete.

The family thrived and prospered in that land across the sea
A journey now they had to make to see the gnarled old tree
They travelled o’er to Scotland and made their way to Naast
They sat beneath the gnarled old tree and thought of times gone past.

The sapling that was planted those many years ago
Survived has the elements, surveys the scene below
It’s now a local landmark as history did unfold
A tribute to one family a story to be told.

Croft 12 in Naast where the family lived was divided into two and there are still the ruins of two old houses to be seen. Behind one of these ruins is a gnarled Scots pine. Tradition says that the tree was planted around the 1860s in memory of the family who left. And when a branch broke off and the rings were counted the date was confirmed.