Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
The Canongate Burns (106 page)
or The Bonie Moor-Hen
Tune: I Rede You Beware at the Hunting
First printed by Cromek, 1808.
The heather was blooming, the meadows were mawn,
mown
Our lads gaed a-hunting, ae day at the dawn,
gone, one
O'er moors and o'er mosses and mony a glen,
many
At length they discovered a bonie moor-hen.
Chorus
5
I rede you beware at the hunting, young men;
I rede you beware at the hunting, young men;
Take some on the wing, and some as they spring,
But cannily steal on a bonie moor-hen.
carefully
Sweet brushing the dew from the brown heather bells,
10
Her colours betray'd her on yon mossy fells;
Her plumage outlustred the pride o' the spring,
And O! as she wanton'd sae gay on the wing.
so
          I rede you beware &c.
Auld Phoebus himsel, as he peep'd o'er the hill,
In spite at her plumage he tryed his skill;
15
He levell'd his rays where she bask'd on the brae â
hillside
His rays were outshone, and but mark'd where she lay.
          I rede you beware &c.
They hunted the valley, they hunted the hill;
The best of our lads wi' the best o' their skill;
But still as the fairest she sat in their sight,
20
Then, whirr! she was over, a mile at a flight.
          I rede you beware &c.
Evidence suggests that Burns did not print it on the wishes of Agnes McLehose, who felt the sexual undertones of the hunting metaphor were indelicate (See headnote, Scott Douglas, Vol. II, p. 275). It has been suggested that other stanzas probably existed, as Cromek printed asterisks at the end to indicate suppressed verses. Kinsley records that Henley and Henderson saw a manuscript with no additional verses. Given Cromek's notoriety in doctoring texts, there is every likelihood that verses were cut away from the original by him.
First printed in
The Scotsman,
22nd November 1882.
      For shame!
Let Folly and Knavery
      Freedom oppose:
'Tis suicide, Genius,
      To mix with her foes.
Burns inscribed the above in a copy of Samuel Johnson's
The Lives
of the Poets
, next to a comment by Johnson that the poet Edmund Waller's mother was a sister of John Hampden âthe zealot of rebellion'. The edition is supposed to have been gifted by Burns to Alexander Cunningham (1594â1643). The exact date of composition is unknown. Dr Johnson was profoundly problematic for Burns (See Letters 94, 223, 325 and 413). He was intimately touched by his
Lives of the Poets
. On the other hand, the high Tory advocate, hostile to the Civil War and its multiple, radical consequences, seemed to Burns a âGenius' (l. 4) self-destructively allied with the reactionary enemies of freedom. John Hampden was an iconic figure of inspiration among the radicals of the 1790s. Many pro-reform letters of this era employed âHampden' as a pen-name. Coleridge initially intended to name his first son after him.
On Being Appointed to the Excise
First printed by Cromek, 1808.
Searching auld wives' barrels,
old
     Ochon, the day!
alas
That clarty barm should stain my laurels;
dirty yeast
     But â what'll ye say!
These muvin' things ca'd wives an' weans
called, children
Wad muve the very hearts o' stanes!
would, stones
Burns obtained his commission to join the Excise on 14th July, 1788, but had considered the Excise as a possible future career two years earlier, in 1786. He received training in Edinburgh for six weeks and it was probably at this time that he wrote these lines. In a letter to Margaret Chalmers he records stoically, âThe question is not at what door of Fortune's palace shall we enter in; but what doors does she open for us?⦠I got this without any hanging on, or mortifying solicitation; it is immediate bread, and though poor in comparison of the last eighteen months of my existence,' tis luxury in comparison of all my preceding life: besides the commissioners are some of them my acquaintances â¦' (Letter 207). Fiscal necessity forced Burns into the most loathed part of the government executive.
The degree of guilt and self-contempt evident in these lines can be gauged from l. 4 which exactly echoes Ramsay's monologue of an Edinburgh prostitute
Lucky Spence's Last Advice
. Hence Lucky's stanza on the punitively sadistic consequences of selling oneself:
There's ae sair cross attends the craft,
That curst Correction-house, where aft
Vild Hangy's taz ye'r riggings saft
    Makes black and blue,
Enough to pit a body daft;
    But what ye'll say.
First printed in Thomson, 1805.
O That I were where Helen lies,
Night and day on me she cries;
O that I were where Helen lies
      In fair Kirconnel lee. â
5
O Helen fair beyond compare,
A ringlet of thy flowing hair,
I'll wear it still for ever mair
      Untill the day I die. â
Curs'd be the hand that shot the shot,
10
And curs'd the gun that gave the crack!
Into my arms bird Helen lap,
      And died for sake o' me!
O think na ye but my heart was sair;
My Love fell down and spake nae mair;
15
There did she swoon wi' meikle care
      On fair Kirconnel lee. â
I lighted down, my sword did draw,
I cutted him in pieces sma';
I cutted him in pieces sma'
20
      On fair Kirconnel lee. â
O Helen chaste, thou were modest,
If I were with thee I were blest
Where thou lies low and takes thy rest
      On fair Kirconnel lee. â
25
I wish my grave was growing green,
A winding sheet put o'er my een,
eyes
And I in Helen's arms lying
      In fair Kirconnel lee!
I wish I were where Helen lies!
30
Night and day on me she cries:
O that I were where Helen lies
      On fair Kirconnel lee. â
This is largely a traditional song, reworked by Burns. It is based on the story of Ellen Irvine of Kirkconnel House, who was pursued by two male suitors. One, in an attempt to kill the other, accidentally shot and killed Ellen as she sat with Adam Fleming on the banks of the Kirtle water. Fleming rose and killed his rival but, fearing a jail sentence or worse, fled to Spain in panic. He eventually returned to Scotland and was interred with his lover. The story is printed in Thomas Penant's
A Tour in Scotland
, published in 1774, pp. 88â9 â a source quoted by Kinsley (no. 203). Burns informed Thomson in 1793 that the version of this song printed in S.M.M. was not much better than the âsilly' traditional verses (Letter 569). The song has been updated by several authors including Walter Scott.
or
Interpolation
Tune: The Banks of Spey
First printed in Barke, 1955.
Your friendship much can make me blest,
      Oh, why that bliss destroy!
Why urge the only, one request
      You know I will deny!
Your thought, if Love must harbour there,
      Conceal it in that thought;
Nor cause me from my bosom tear
      The very friend I sought.
These lines were written by Burns to Mrs McLehose to be added to some verses she had written. They were included in a letter of 4th January, 1788.
First printed in Barke, 1955.
Up and warn a' Willie,
      Warn, warn a';
To hear my cantie Highland sang,
joyful, song
      Relate the things I saw, Willie. â
5
When we gaed to the braes o' Mar,
went
      And to the wapon-shaw, Willie,
show of weapons
Wi true design to serve the king
      And banish whigs awa, Willie. â
Up and warn a', Willie,
10
      Warn, warn a';
For Lords and lairds came there bedeen,
early
      And wow but they were braw, Willie. â
handsome
But when the standard was set up
      Right fierce the wind did blaw, Willie;
blow
15
The royal nit upon the tap
nut, top
      Down to the ground did fa', Willie. â
Up and warn a', Willie,
      Warn, warn a';
Then second-sighted Sandie said
20
      We'd do nae gude at a', Willie. â
no good
But when the army join'd at Perth,
      The bravest ere ye saw, Willie,
We didna doubt the rogues to rout,
      Restore our king and a', Willie.
25
Up and warn a' Willie,
      Warn, warn a';
The pipers play'd frae left to right
from
      O whirry whigs awa, Willie. â
harry
But when we march'd to Sherramuir
30
      And there the rebels saw, Willie;
Brave Argyll attack'd our right,
      Our flank and front and a' Willie. â
Up and warn a', Willie,
      Warn, warn a';
35
Traitor Huntly soon gave way
      Seaforth, St. Clair and a' Willie. â
But brave Glengarry on our right,
      The rebel's left did claw, Willie,
He there the greatest slaughter made
40
      That ever Donald saw, Willie. â
Up and warn a', Willie,
      Warn, warn a';
And Whittam shat his breeks for fear
trousers
      And fast did run awa, Willie. â
45
For he ca'd us a Highland mob
      And soon he'd slay us a', Willie;
But we chas'd him back to Stirling brig
      Dragoons and foot and a', Willie. â
Up and warn a', Willie,
50
      Warn, warn a';
At length we rallied on a hill
      And briskly up did draw, Willie. â
But when Argyle did view our line,
      And them in order saw, Willie,
55
He streight gaed to Dumblane again
straight went
      And back his left did draw, Willie. â
Up and warn a', Willie,
      Warn, warn a',
Then we to Auchterairder march'd
60
      To wait a better fa' Willie. â
outcome
Now if ye spier wha wan the day,
ask, who won
      I've tell'd you what I saw, Willie,
We baith did fight and baith did beat
both
      And baith did rin awa, Willie. â
run
65
Up and warn a', Willie,
      Warn, warn a' Willie,
For second-sighted Sandie said
      We'd do nae gude at a', Willie. â
no good
This song is based on a traditional work which records an indecisive battle at Sheriffmuir during the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, in which both sides claimed that the other retreated in panic. In his notes to
Scottish songs Burns states he obtained a copy of this song from âTom Niel' who was well known in Edinburgh. The Neil text is expanded by Burns into a satirical lyric sung as a colloquial reminiscence, mocking the key players in the battle, namely the Earl of Huntly, the Earl of Seaforth, McDonnell of Glengarry and âWhittam' (General Whetham), âwho
shat his breeks
'. The song does not have the same effect and success of
The Battle Of Sheriffmuir
. Surprisingly, the song did not surface as a work of Burns until Barke in 1955. Mackay's version is missing the two final stanzas, leaving the narrative drama incomplete (pp. 317â18).
Tune: Captain Okean
First printed in Thomson's
Select Collection
, 1799.
The small birds rejoice in the green leaves returning,
      The murmuring streamlet winds clear thro' the vale;
The primroses blow in the dews of the morning,
      And wild-scatter'd cowslips bedeck the green dale;
5
But what can give pleasure, or what can seem fair,
      When the lingering moments are number'd by Care?
No birds sweetly singing, nor flow'rs gaily springing,
      Can soothe the sad bosom of joyless Despair. âÂ
The deed that I dared, could it merit their malice,
10
      A KING and a FATHER to place on his throne;
His right are these hills, and his right are these valleys,
      Where the wild beasts find shelter but I can find none:
But 'tis not my suff'rings, thus wretched, forlorn,
      My brave, gallant friends,' tis your ruin I mourn;
15
Your faith proved so loyal in hot, bloody trial,
      Alas, can I make it no sweeter return!
This is in the lamenting voice of Prince Charles Edward Stuart after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden. Thus, through the voice of its defeated leader this song displays the poet's skill in juxtaposing the simple beauties of nature, with the despair of the Jacobite cause. This is Burns writing what is in effect, a political version of
Ye Banks
and Braes
, where the love is for a country and a people, both forever lost to the Young Pretender. The leading English radical John Thelwall remarked in marginalia on a copy of his friend Coleridge's
Biographia Literaria
that this song was by far the best example in the English language of simple language to convey emotion.