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Authors: Robert Burns

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Sandy and Jockie

Tune: Jenny's Lamentation
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

TWA bony lads were Sandy and Jockie;
two

Jockie was lo'ed but Sandy unlucky;
loved

Jockie was laird baith of hills and of vallies,
both

But Sandy was nought but the King o' gude fellows.
good

Jockie lo'ed Madgie, for Madgie had money,
loved

And Sandy lo'ed Mary, for Mary was bony:

Ane wedded for Love, ane wedded for treasure,
one

So Jockie has siller, and Sandy had pleasure.
money

The first two lines are traditional, the remainder is from Burns. It expresses the poet's belief that natural, spontaneous love more than compensated for wealth.

Young Jockie was the Blythest Lad

First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

Young Jockey was the blythest lad

        In a' our town or here awa;
away/round about

Fu' blythe he whistled at the gaud,
while goading

        Fu' lightly danc'd he in the ha'.

5
He roos'd my een sae bonie blue,
praised, eyes, so

        He roos'd my waist sae genty sma;
praised, so, small

An ay my heart cam to my mou,
mouth

        When ne'er a body heard or saw. 

My Jockey toils upon the plain

10
        Thro' wind and weet, thro' frost and snaw;
wet, snow

And o'er the lee I leuk fu' fain
look fondly

        When Jockie's owsen hameward ca'.
oxen howeward drive

An ay the night comes round again,

        When in his arms he taks me a';
takes, fully

15
An ay he vows he'll be my ain
own

        As lang's he has a breath to draw.
long as
 

This is signed by Burns with a ‘Z' in the S.M.M to indicate it is a traditional song he improved. Jockey (l. 3) was the leader of the plough-horses and carried a stick as a goad.

A Waukrife Minnie

First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

Whare are you gaun, my bony lass,
where, going

         Whare are you gaun, my hiney.
where, going, darling

She answer'd me right saucilie,

         An errand for my minnie.
mother

5
O whare live ye, my bony lass,
where

         O whare live ye, my hiney.
darling

By yon burnside, gin ye maun ken,
if, shall know

         In a wee house wi' my minnie.
mother

But I foor up the glen at e'en,
went, evening

10
         To see my bony lassie;

And lang before the grey morn cam,
long, came

         She was na hauf sae saucey.
not half so

O weary fa' the waukrife cock,
woe befall, wakeful

         And the foumart lay his crawin!
polecat

15
He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep,
wakened, old, from

         A wee blink or the dawin.
just before, dawn

An angry wife I wat she raise,
know

         And o'er the bed she brought her;

And wi' a meikle hazel rung
big, stick

20
         She made her a weel-pay'd dochter.
well-, daughter
 

O fare thee weel, my bonie lass!
-well

         O fare thee weel, my hinnie!
-well, darling

Thou art a gay and a bony lass,

         But thou has a waukrife minnie.
wakeful mother
 

Burns notes in the Interleaved S.M.M. that this song was sung to him by a girl in Nithsdale. It is generally included among his songs on the assumption that he, at least, improved the old song. Kinsley gives two possible sources (Vol. III, no. 311, p. 1339).

Tho' Women's Minds

Tune: For A' that an' a' that.
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

Tho' women's minds, like winter winds,

        May shift, and turn an' a' that,

The noblest breast adores them maist,
most

       A consequence I draw that.

Chorus

5
For a' that, an' a' that,

        And twice as meikle's a' that,
much as

My dearest bluid to do them guid,
blood, good

        They're welcome till't for a' that.

Great love I bear to all the Fair,

10
        Their humble slave an' a' that;

But lordly WILL, I hold it still

        A mortal sin to thraw that.
question

                For a' that, an' a' that, &c.

In rapture sweet this hour we meet,

        Wi' mutual love an' a' that,

15
But for how lang the flie may stang,
long, fly, sting

        Let inclination law that.

               For a' that, an' a' that, &c.

Their tricks and craft hae put me daft,
have, stupid

        They've taen me in an' a' that,
taken

But clear your decks, and here's the SEX!

20
        I like the jads for a' that!
hussies

                For a' that, an' a' that, &c.

This is signed as the work of Burns in the S.M.M. It is an adapted extract from his cantata,
The Jolly Beggars,
namely
The Bard's Song.

Killiecrankie

Tune: Killiecranckie
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad!
where have, so fine

          Whare hae ye been sae brankie O?
strutting smartly

Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad?

          Cam ye by Killiecrankie O?
come

Chorus

5
An ye had been whare I hae been,
where, have

          Ye wad na been sae cantie O;
would not, so cheerful

An ye had seen what I hae seen,
have

          On the braes o' Killiecrankie O.
hill slopes

I faught at land, I faught at sea,

10
          At hame I faught my Auntie, O;
home

But I met the Devil and Dundee

          On th' braes o' Killiecrankie, O.
hill slopes

                  An ye had been, &c.

‘The bauld Pitcur fell in a furr,
bold, dep ditch

          An' Clavers gat a clankie, O;
blow

15
Or I had fed an Athole Gled
hawk

          On th' braes o' Killiecrankie, O.
hill slopes

                  An ye had been, &c.

Although Burns visited the scene of this battle in the Autumn of 1787, during his Highland tour, it is uncertain how much of this song is his. He left no commentary and the remarks in the Interleaved S.M.M. are by Robert Riddell, who noted that the battle occurred on 27th July 1689 between the Jacobite forces of Graham of Claverhouse (Bonnie Dundee) and the Hanoverian loyalists led by General Mackay. As Kinsley states, the song is written in the voice of ‘one of Mackay's men saved only by the deaths, in pursuit, of Claverhouse and Haliburton of Pitcur' (Vol. III, no. 313, p. 1340).

Willie Brew'd a Peck o' Maut

First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

O, Willie brewed a peck o' maut,
malt

        And Rob and Allan cam to see;
came

Three blyther hearts, that lee-lang night,
live-long

        Ye wad na found in Christendie.
would not

Chorus

5
We are na fou, we're nae that fou,
not full/drunk, not drunk

        But just a drappie in our e'e;
droplet, eye

The cock may craw, the day may daw,
crow, dawn

        And ay we'll taste the barley bree.
-brew

Here are we met, three merry boys,

10
        Three merry boys I trow are we;
pledge

And monie a night we've merry been,

        And monie mae we hope to be!
more

               We are na fou, &c.

It is the moon, I ken her horn,
know

        That's blinkin in the lift sae hie;
glinting, sky, high

15
She shines sae bright to wyle us hame,
so, lure, home

        But, by my sooth she'll wait a wee!
word, while

               We are na fou, &c.

Wha first shall rise to gang awa,
who, go away

        A cuckold, coward loun is he!
fool

Wha first beside his chair shall fa',
who, fall

20
        He is the king amang us three!
among

               We are na fou, &c.

The music to this drinking song is by Allan Masterton, one of the poet's Edinburgh friends, who, with the poet, is alluded to in the first stanza. The brewer of this Bacchanalian song, Willie, is William Nicol, the Latin teacher at Edinburgh High School. The song celebrates a convivial evening when the three friends met in Moffat where Nicol was on holiday.

The Day Returns –

For Robert Riddell's Wedding Anniversary

Tune: Seventh of November
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

The day returns, my bosom burns,

        The blissful day we twa did meet;
two

Tho' Winter wild in tempest toil'd,

        Ne'er simmer-sun was half sae sweet:
so

5
Than a' the pride that loads the tide,

        And crosses o'er the sultry Line;

Than kingly robes, than crowns and globes,

        Heav'n gave me more — it made thee mine.

While day and night can bring delight,

10
        Or Nature aught of pleasure give;

While Joys Above, my mind can move,

        For Thee and Thee alone I live!

When that grim foe of Life below

        Comes in between to make us part;

15
The iron hand that breaks our Band,

        It breaks my bliss — it breaks my heart!

This lyric was written by Burns to accompany a melody composed by his friend Robert Riddell of Glenriddell on his wedding anniversary, which fell on 7th November – hence the name of the tune. Burns was an intimate friend of the Riddells: ‘At their fire-side I have enjoyed more pleasant evenings than at all the houses of fashionable people in this country put together … many of the happiest hours of my life' (quoted by Cromek, p. 269, from Burns's notes in the
Interleaved Scots Musical Museum
). The song is sung as from the lips of Robert Riddell to his wife. Ll. 7–8 are also politically apposite to Burns's relationship to Robert Riddell.

The Blue-Eyed Lassie

Tune: The Blathrie O' 't
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.

I gaed a waefu' gate, yestreen,
went, doleful, way, last night

        A gate, I fear, I'll dearly rue;

I gat my death frae twa sweet een,
got, from two, eyes

        Twa lovely een o' bonie blue.
two, eyes

‘Twas not her golden ringlets bright,

        Her lips like roses, wat wi' dew,
wet

Her heaving bosom, lily-white,

        It was her een sae bonie blue.
eyes so

She talk'd, she smil'd, my heart she wyl'd,

        She charm'd my soul I wist na how;
know not

And ay the stound, the deadly wound,
heart ache

        Cam frae her een sae bonie blue.
came from, eyes so

But spare to speak, and spare to speed;
shy & inattentive

        She'll aiblins listen to my vow:
maybe

Should she refuse, I'll lay my dead

        To her twa een sae bonie blue.
two eyes so

This was composed on Jean Jaffray (1773–1850), daughter of Rev. Andrew Jaffray, minister at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire. The initial air by Robert Riddell was changed to
The Blathrie O' 't
in Thomson's version.

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