lilting, at the yowe-milking, Lassies a-lilting before dawn o' day; But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning; "The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away". ... Dool and wae for the order sent oor lads tae the Border! The English for ance, by guile wan the day, The Flooers o' the Forest, that fought aye the foremost, The pride o' oor land lie cauld in the clay. The song is mentioned in The Scots Musical Museum as The flowres of the Forrest, and the air (or tune) apparently survived, but several versions of the words were written down later, the most usual being by Jean Elliot published about 1755 – see links below. Alison Cockburn's lyrics In 1765 the wit and socialite Alison Cockburn published her lyrics to the Flowers of the Forest beginning "I've seen the smiling of Fortune beguiling" said to have been written before her marriage in 1731 . It concerns a financial crisis that had ruined the fortunes of a number of the Selkirk Lairds. Later biographers, however, think it probable that it was written on the departure to London of a certain John Aikman, with whom Alison appears to have had an early attachment. The first verse runs: Modern usage Both versions of the song are part of the traditional music at Selkirk Common Riding which in part commemorates the loss at Flodden. Jean Elliot's version is known in the town as "The Liltin" and is played after the Casting of the Colours ceremony. Alison Cockburn's version is played as a march by the town band but is also the version more often sung; it is the version known in Selkirk as "The Flo'ers o' the Forest". It was played at the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901, which explains its subsequent popularity. In late 1942, according to the late Duchess of Windsor's memoir, The Duke of Windsor asked that it be played at the funeral of his brother, the Duke of Kent, who was killed in a plane crash in the Highlands. Apparently it was a personal favourite of Prince George, Duke of Kent. The song is heavily referenced in the novel Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon and features in the 2015 film of the same name, including a rendition by Agyness Deyn, who plays the lead character, Chris Guthrie. The song is quoted at the beginning and end of