Verse 1:
The lads a' mearched oot, a' determin tae be
The finest o' men that ye  e'er did see
The pipes they rang oot, and the voices sung clear
The sang o' the men never mair tae be seen 
Chorus:
The letter they fade but they ne'er grow auld
Still carved in the trees wi stories untold
The winter may pass, and the summer gangs on
But ainly the trees will remember the sang
Verse 2:
He sat him sel' doon at the foot o' a tree
His pack at his side and his heid on his knee
The cannons they roared and the trees they did burn
The thoughts o' returnin' blocked oot like the sun
Verse 3:
He pulled oot his pen, scrawled a letter tae hame
Leanin' haird on the tree, heid weel hidden fae view
'We're in for a fight, there's nay haudin weel back
But I'm daein all right mam, I'm paying my dues'
Verse 4:
The light it stays on at the end o' the road
Still waitin' wi hope, still expectant untold
But there's nay comin' hame tae the land o' the free
The bodies a gang noo, ne'er mare tae be seen.

The song was inspired after a trip to France as part of the battle of the Somme commemorations, and hearing the story of a soldier Eric Milroy from Edinburgh, who's descendants where at the event. He died in Delville wood in the battle of the somme in 1916 and as part of the visit there was a trip to the wood and to the tree where he died after writing a letter home to his family. The tree still has some markings from where he sat and wrote the letter leaning on the tree, but his mother never believed that he was dead and always kept the light on at the end of the path so he could find his way home when he returned.