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by Robert Burns


  As I Was a Wand’ring

  Tune: Rinn m’eudial mo mhealladh – a Gaelic air

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  As I was a wand’ring ae midsummer e’enin, one, evening

  The pipers and youngsters were makin their game, having fun

  Amang them I spyed my faithless fause luver, among, false

  Which bled a’ the wounds o’ my dolour again. —

  Chorus

  5 Weel, since he has left me, may pleasure gae wi’ him; well, go

  I may be distress’d, but I winna complain: will not

  I’ll flatter my fancy I may get anither, another

  My heart it shall never be broken for ane. — one

  I could na get sleepin till dawin, for greetin; not, dawn, weeping

  10 The tears trickl’d down like the hail and the rain:

  Had I na got greetin, my heart wad a broken, not, crying, would

  For Oh, luve forsaken’s a tormenting pain!

  Weel, since he has left me &c.

  Although he has left me for greed o’ the siller, money

  I dinna envy him the gains he can win: do not

  15 I rather wad bear a’ the lade o’ my sorrow, would, load

  Than ever hae acted sae faithless to him. — have, so

  Weel, since he has left me &c.

  This is omitted by Mackay but accepted by Kinsley. Two versions of this traditional song have been given as the work of Burns. On this version, Kinsley asserts that only the last verse is by Burns. Kinsley has repeated Scott Douglas’s error. The latter printed Johnson’s text and asserted that only the final stanza came from Burns. The original text from the S.M.M. should not be the one attributed to Burns. This can be clearly seen if we compare the original text with the revised Burns one above:

  As I was walking ae May morning,

  The fiddlers and youngsters were makin their game;

  And there I saw my faithless lover,

  And a’ my sorrows returned again.

  Chorus

  5 Weel, since he’s gane – may joy gae wi’ him!

  It’s never be he that shall gar me complain:

  I’ll cheer up my heart, and I will get another,

  I’ll never lay a’ my luve upon ane ane. –

  I could na get sleepin’ yestreen, for weepin,

  10 The tears trickl’d down like showers o’ rain;

  And had I no got greetin, my heart wad ha’ broken,

  And O! but love’s a tormenting pain!

  Weel, since he has gane &c.

  Although he has left me for greed o’ the siller,

  I dinna envy him the gains he can win:

  15 I rather wad bear a’ the lade o’ my sorrow,

  Than ever hae acted sae faithless to him. –

  Weel, since he has gane &c.

  Lovely Davies

  Tune: Miss Muir

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  O how shall I, unskilfu’, try

  The Poet’s occupation?

  The tunefu’ Powers, in happy hours,

  That whisper, inspiration,

  5 Even they maun dare an effort mair may, more

  Than aught they ever gave us,

  Or they rehearse in equal verse

  The charms o’ lovely DAVIES. —

  Each eye it cheers, when she appears,

  10 Like Phoebus in the morning,

  When past the shower, and every flower

  The garden is adorning:

  As the wretch looks o’er Siberia’s shore,

  When winter-bound the wave is;

  15 Sae droops our heart when we maun part so, must

  Frae charming, lovely DAVIES. — from

  Her smile’s a gift frae boon the lift, from above, sky

  That maks us mair than princes; more

  A sceptred hand, a king’s command,

  20 Is in her darting glances:

  The man in arms ’gainst female charms,

  Even he her willing slave is;

  He hugs his chain, and owns the reign

  Of conquering lovely DAVIES. —

  25 My Muse to dream of such a theme,

  Her feeble powers surrender;

  The eagle’s gaze alone surveys;

  The sun’s meridian splendour:

  I wad in vain essay the strain, would

  30 The deed too daring brave is;

  I’ll drap the lyre, and, mute, admire drop/cease

  The charms o’ lovely DAVIES. —

  Letter 472A, which presumably accompanied this song, is a much more astonishing piece of prose than his conventional song.

  The Weary Pund o’ Tow

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  I bought my wife a stane o’ lint, stone in weight, flax

  As gude as e’er did grow; good

  And a’ that she has made o’ that

  Is ae poor pund o’ tow. one, pound string

  Chorus

  5 The weary pund, the weary pund, pound

  The weary pund o’ tow; flax string

  I think my wife will end her life,

  Before she spin her tow. —

  There sat a bottle in a bole, hole in a wall

  10 Beyont the ingle lowe; near, fireside flame

  And ay she took the tither souk another such

  To drouk the stourie tow. — wet, dusty flax string

  The weary pund, &c.

  Quoth I, for shame, ye dirty dame,

  Gae spin your tap o’ tow! go

  15 She took the rock, and wi’ a knock, distaff

  She brake it o’er my pow. — head

  The weary pund, &c.

  At last her feet, I sang to see’t,

  Gaed foremost o’er the knowe; went, edge of hill

  And or I wad anither jad, wed another hussy

  20 I’ll wallop in a tow. —

  The weary pund, &c.

  As Kinsley has rightly remarked (Vol. III, no. 360, p. 1395), this is based on a traditional English song, published in a collection The Charmer in 1782, beginning ‘I bought my woman and my wife half a pound of tow’. As with other English songs, Burns has given this what he termed a Scots dress.

  I Hae a Wife o’ My Ain

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  I hae a wife o’ my ain, have, own

  I’ll partake wi’ naebody; nobody

  I’ll tak Cuckold frae nane, take, from none

  I’ll gie Cuckold to naebody. — give, nobody

  5 I hae a penny to spend, have

  There, thanks to naebody;

  I hae naething to lend, have nothing

  I’ll borrow frae naebody. — from nobody

  I am naebody’s lord,

  10 I’ll be slave to naebody;

  I hae a gude braid sword, have good broad

  I’ll tak dunts frae naebody. — blows from

  I’ll be merry and free,

  I’ll be sad for naebody;

  15 Naebody cares for me,

  I care for naebody. —

  This is adapted from an old simple Scots ballad on defiant self-sufficiency against poverty and was not composed by Burns just after his marriage as some editors have erroneously believed. If it had been Burns’s own work he would have signed it in the S.M.M.

  When She Cam Ben, She Bobbed

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  O when she cam ben she bobbed fu’ law, came in, bowed

  O when she cam ben she bobbed fu’ law;

  And when she cam’ ben she kiss’d Cockpen,

  And syne she deny’d she did it at a’. — later, at all

  5 And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’, not, everyone

  And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’,

  In leaving the dochter o’ a lord, daughter

  And kissin a Collier-lassie an’ a’. —

>   O never look down, my lassie at a’,

  10 O never look down, my lassie at a’;

  Thy lips are as sweet, and thy figure compleat, complete

  As the finest dame in castle or ha’. — hall

  Tho’ thou hast nae silk and holland sae sma, no, so small

  Tho’ thou hast nae silk and holland sae sma,

  15 Thy coat and thy sark are thy ain handywark shirt, own work

  And Lady Jean was never sae braw. so fine

  This is an improved version of a traditional song about a Laird who had an affair with a common girl, printed in Herd’s collection (Vol. 2, p. 206). The first two stanzas are almost unaltered while the last two are from Burns.

  O, for Ane and Twenty, Tam

  Tune: The Moudiewart

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  They snool me sair, and haud me down, snub, sore, hold

  And gar me look like bluntie, Tam; make, fool

  But three short years will soon wheel roun’, round

  And then comes ane-and-twenty, Tam. one-

  Chorus

  5 An O, for ane and twenty, Tam! one-

  And hey, sweet ane and twenty, Tam!

  I’ll learn my kin a rattlin sang, song

  An I saw ane and twenty, Tam.

  A gleib o’ lan’, a claut o’ gear, piece, handful

  10 Was left me by my Auntie, Tam;

  At kith or kin I needna spier, need not ask

  An I saw ane and twenty, Tam.

  An’ O, for ane and twenty, &c.

  They’ll hae me wed a wealthy coof, have, fool

  Tho’ I mysel hae plenty, Tam; have

  15 But hear’st thou, laddie, there’s my loof, hand

  I’m thine at ane and twenty, Tam! one

  An’ O, for ane and twenty, &c.

  Although published anonymously in the S.M.M., Burns acknowledges to George Thomson in October 1794 that this is his song, with the remark ‘“In summer when the hay was mawn”, “An O for ane and twenty Tam” are both mine’ (Letter 644). Again, this is a song of significant female defiance regarding an ‘unsuitable’ marriage partner.

  O Kenmure’s on and Awa, Willie

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  O Kenmure’s on and awa, Willie,

  O, Kenmure’s on and awa; away

  An’ Kenmure’s Lord’s the bravest Lord

  That ever Galloway saw.

  5 Success to Kenmure’s band, Willie!

  Success to Kenmure’s band,

  There’s no a heart that fears a Whig

  That rides by Kenmure’s hand.

  Here’s Kenmure’s health in wine, Willie,

  10 Here’s Kenmure’s health in wine,

  There ne’er was a coward o’ Kenmure’s blude, blood

  Nor yet o’ Gordon’s Line.

  O Kenmure’s lads are men, Willie,

  O Kenmure’s lads are men,

  15 Their hearts and swords are metal true,

  And that their faes shall ken. foes, know

  They’ll live, or die wi’ fame, Willie,

  They’ll live, or die wi’ fame,

  But soon wi’ sounding victorie

  20 May Kenmure’s lord come hame. home

  Here’s Him that’s far awa, Willie,

  Here’s Him that’s far awa,

  And here’s the flower that I lo’e best, love

  The rose that’s like the snaw! snow/white cockade

  Previous editors have assumed this is based on an old Galloway song, but no evidence of such an earlier work exists. It is not impossible that Burns converted a Highland Jacobite song (akin to Up an Warn A’ Willie) so that Galloway becomes the location and Viscount William Gordon of Kenmure Castle, who led the Jacobite troops in the South of Scotland in 1715, becomes the hero. The poet and John Syme spent three days at Kenmure Castle (sadly now in ruins), near New Galloway village at the end of July, into August, 1793, on the poet’s first tour of Galloway. The snow white rose is the Jacobite emblem (the white cockade) which even the Marxist McDiarmid writes of with considerable pathos. The song is original and carries overtones of Here’s A Health Tae Them That’s Awa’, a later song where Jacobite dissidents meet and merge with the radicalism of the 1790s.

  Bessy and her Spinning Wheel

  Tune: The Sweet Lass that Loves Me

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  O leeze me on my spinnin-wheel, delight me with

  And leeze me on my rock and reel; distaff

  Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien, from, head, toe, clothes, well

  And haps me fiel and warm at e’en! covers, well, evening

  5 I’ll set me down, and sing and spin,

  While laigh descends the summer sun, low

  Blest wi’ content, and milk and meal,

  O leeze me on my spinnin-wheel. —

  On ilka hand the burnies trot, either, small burns run

  10 And meet below my theekit cot; thatched cottage

  The scented birk and hawthorn white birch

  Across the pool their arms unite,

  Alike to screen the birdie’s nest,

  And little fishes’ callor rest: cool

  15 The sun blinks kindly in the biel’ glimmers, shelter

  Where blythe I turn my spinnin-wheel. —

  On lofty aiks the cushats wail, oaks, wood pigeons

  And Echo cons the doolfu’ tale; woeful

  The lintwhites in the hazel braes, linnets, rows of

  20 Delighted, rival ither’s lays:

  The craik amang the claver hay, corncrake, clover

  The paitrick whirrin o’er the ley, partridge, grass land

  The swallow jinkin round my shiel, darting, sheiling

  Amuse me at my spinnin-wheel. —

  25 Wi’ sma to sell, and less to buy, little

  Aboon distress, below envy, above

  O wha wad leave this humble state, who would

  For a’ the pride of a’ the Great?

  Amid their flairing, idle toys,

  30 Amid their cumbrous, dinsome joys,

  Can they the peace and pleasure feel

  Of Bessy at her spinnin-wheel!

  This song derives its title, if not its form and content from Ramsay’s The Loving Lass and Spinning Wheel. The song is a eulogy to Elizabeth Burgess of Watcarrick in Eskdalemuir.

  The song is a celebration of what were to become Wordsworthian pastoral, sessile virtues of economic and environmental contentment, but with a personal, intimate, charming sense of specific character of which the English poet was arguably not capable.

  My Collier Laddie

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  Whare live ye, my bonie lass, where

  And tell me how they ca’ ye? what, call

  My name, she says, is Mistress Jean,

  And I follow the Collier laddie.

  My name, she says, is Mistress Jean,

  And I follow the Collier laddie.

  5 See you not yon hills and dales

  The sun shines on sae brawlie? so finely

  They a’ are mine and they shall be thine,

  Gin ye’ll leave your Collier laddie. if

  They a’ are mine &c.

  Ye shall gang in gay attire, go/dress

  10 Weel buskit up sae gaudy; well dressed so splendidly

  And ane to wait on every hand, one/servants

  Gin ye’ll leave your Collier laddie. if

  And ane to wait &c.

  Tho’ ye had a’ the sun shines on,

  And the earth conceals sae lowly; so

  15 I wad turn my back on you and it a’, would

  And embrace my Collier laddie.

  I wad turn my &c.

  I can win my five pennies in a day

  An’ spen ‘t at night fu’ brawlie; full/well

  And make my bed in the Collier’s neuk, corner
r />   20 And lie down wi’ my Collier laddie.

  And make my bed &c.

  Loove for loove is the bargain for me, love

  Tho’ the wee Cot-house should haud me; hold

  And the warld before me to win my bread, world

  And fair fa’ my collier laddie! blessings on

  And the warld before &c.

  A responsive female song of celebratory love for her collier husband, combined with economic hope. There was an embryonic Ayrshire coalfield by the 1790s, the Fife field was much older, but it remains uncertain to what degree this was a traditional song.

  Nithsdale’s Welcome Hame

  Tune: The Country Lass

  First printed in Johnson’s S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.

  The noble Maxwels and their powers

  Are coming o’er the border,

  And they’ll gae big Terreagles’ towers go build

 

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