Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
The Canongate Burns (65 page)
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'. â
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'. â
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'. â
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.
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 â“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 âunsuitable' marriage partner.
First printed in Johnson's S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.Â
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.
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. â
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. â
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. â
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.
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,
        Â
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 ât at night fu' brawlie;
full/wel
l
And make my bed in the Collier's neuk,
corner
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.
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
         And set them a' in order:
5
And they declare, Terreagles fair,
         For their abode they chuse it;
There's no a heart in a' the land
not
         But 's lighter at the news o't. â
Tho' stars in skies may disappear,
10
         And angry tempests gather;
The happy hour may soon be near
         That brings us pleasant weather:
The weary night o' care and grief
         May hae a joyfu' morrow,
have
15
So dawning day has brought relief,
         Fareweel our night o' sorrow. â
farewell
This song celebrates the return of Lady Winifred Constable-Maxwell to rebuild Terreagles, the family seat, which had been forfeited by the participation of her grandfather, William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale, in the 1715 rebellion. Discussed in the Introduction, Lady Winifred (Letter 377) was the passionate object of Burns's still contentious claim of the mutual Jacobite history of their respective families.
or
In Simmer, when the Hay was Mawn
First printed in S.M.M., Vol. 4, 13th August 1792.
In simmer, when the hay was mawn,
summer, mown
        And corn wav'd green in ilka field,
every
While claver blooms white o'er the lea,
clover, grass lands
        And roses blaw in ilka bield;
blow, shelter
5
Blythe Bessie, in the milking shiel
hut
        Says, I'll be wed, come o't what will;
Out spake a dame in wrinkled eild,
age
        O' gude advisement comes nae ill.
good, no
Its ye hae wooers mony ane,
have, many a one
10
        And lassie, ye're but young, ye ken;
know
Then wait a wee, and cannie wale,
while, cautious chose
        A routhie butt, a routhie ben:
well-stocked kitchen, parlour
There Johnie o' the Buskieglen,
        Fu' is his barn, fu' is his byre;
full
15
Tak this frae me, my bonie hen,
take, from
        It 's plenty beets the luver's fire.
fans
For Johnie o' the Buskieglen,
        I dinna care a single flie;
do not
He lo'es sae weel his craps and kye,
so well, crops, cattle
20
        He has nae loove to spare for me:
no
But blythe's the blink o' Robie's e'e,
eye
        And weel I wat he lo'es me dear;
well, know
Ae blink o' him I wad na gie
one, would not give
        For Buskieglen and a' his gear.
possessions
25
O thoughtless lassie, life's a faught,
struggle
        The canniest gate, the strife is sair;
prudent way, sore/harsh
But ay fu'-han't is fechtin best,
full-handed, fighting
        A hungry care's an unco care:
heavy
But some will spend, and some will spare,
30
        An' wilfu' folk maun hae their will;
shall have
Syne as ye brew, my maiden fair,
while/thus
        Keep mind that ye maun drink the yill.
must, ale
O gear will buy me rigs o' land,
wealth
        And gear will buy me sheep and kye;
cattle
35
But the tender heart o' leesome loove,
gladsome
        The gowd and siller canna buy:
gold, coins cannot
We may be poor, Robie and I,
        Light is the burden Loove lays on;
Content and Loove brings peace and joy,
40
        What mair hae queens upon a throne.
more have
Burns acknowledges authorship of this work in a letter to George Thomson in October 1794, mentioning the song along with
An O for
Ane and Twenty Tam
, remarking they âare both mine' (Letter 644). Youthful feminine passion is, characteristically, wholly victorious over aged prudence.
