Strong Women Rule Us All

There's a moment of your story that has always haunted me

When you set out in yon open boat to help the poor man flee

Was Chairlie Stewart's future already plain to see?

Did you know he'd be a waster all his days?

But if you did, I'd give the world to find

A single tear you cried

From the Cuillins tae the Carolinas

You showed us one and all

The courage you could call

From the tears that would not fall

From your eyes

And after thirty years after all that you'd been through

Was the thought of "bonnie Chairlie" just a memory to rue

As you watched your husband putting on his coat of scarlet hue

To go and fight for German Geordie's Crown

But you never tried to hide behind

The dreams of days gone by

From the Cuillins tae the Carolinas

You showed us one and all

The courage you could call

From the tears that would not fall

From your eyes

And there's times I think I see you when I find the kind of face

Where a woman's independence has kept a woman's grace

Where confidence and pride refuse to know their place

Or hide behind the easy tricks of beauty

For to me your life's a light that shines

Across the stormy skies

From the Cuillins tae the Carolinas

You showed us one and all

The courage you could call

From the tears that would not fall

From your eyes

From the Cuillins tae the Carolinas

Strong women rule us all

With the courage that they call

When the tears refuse to fall

From their eyes