Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
The Canongate Burns (135 page)
Tune: Come Kiss with me, Come Clap with me
First printed in Johnson, 1796.
Had I the wyte, had I the wyte,
were I to blame
      Had I the wyte, she bade me;
She watch'd me by the hie-gate-side,
high road
      And up the loan she shaw'd me; lane, showed
5
And when I wadna venture in,
would not
      A coward loon she ca'd me:
fool
Had Kirk and State been in the gate,
way
      I'd lighted when she bade me.â
Sae craftilie she took me ben,
so, in
10
      And bade me mak nae clatter;
make no noise
âFor our ramgunshoch, glum Goodman
ill-tempered, surly
      Is o'er ayont the water:'
beyond
Whae'er shall say I wanted grace,
whoever, lacked
      When I did kiss and dawte her,
fondle
15
Let him be planted in my place,
      Syne, say, I was the fautor.â
then, one at fault
Could I for shame, could I for shame,
      Could I for shame refus'd her;
And wadna Manhood been to blame,
would not
20
      Had I unkindly used her:
He claw'd her wi' the ripplin-kame,
wool-comb
      And blae and bluidy bruis'd her;
blue
When sic a husband was frae hame,
such, from
      What wife but wad excus'd her?
would
25
I dighted ay her een sae blue,
wiped, eyes so
      An' bann'd the cruel randy;
scoundrel
And weel I wat her willin mou
well, know, mouth
      Was e'en like succarcandie.
sugarcandy
At gloamin-shote it was, I wot,
early evening, know
30
      I lighted on the Monday;
But I cam thro' the Tiseday's dew
Tuesday's
      To wanton Willie's brandy. â
This is adapted by Burns from an old song included in the Herd collection (1769). It was signed âZ' in the S.M.M.A bawdy version was collected by Burns and included in the
Merry Muses of Cale
donia
.
Tune: Miller's Wedding
First printed in Johnson, 1796.
COMIN thro' the rye, poor body,
wheat-like grass
      Comin thro' the rye,
She draigl't a' her petticoatie
made a mess of
      Comin thro' the rye.
Chorus
5
Oh Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
wet
      Jenny's seldom dry;
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
made a mess of
      Comin thro' the rye.
Gin a body meet a body
if
10
      Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body
      Need a body cry.
            Oh Jenny's &c
Gin a body meet a body
      Comin thro' the glen;
15
Gin a body kiss a body,
      Need the warld ken!
world know
            Oh Jenny's &c
On publication, Johnson's headnote reads: âWritten for this work by Robert Burns'. It is not, though, a wholly original work. It is partly taken from a folksong in Thomas Mansfield's collection begun in 1770. An English version, entered in Stationers Hall, London, for June 1796 reads, âIf a body meet a body, /Going to the Fair'. A further, more crude version exists in the
Merry Muses
.
First printed in Johnson, 1796.
OUR young lady's a huntin gane,
gone
Sheets nor blanket haes she ta'en,
has, taken
But she's born her auld son or she cam hame,
old, before, home
      And she's row'd him in her apron. â
rolled/wrapped
5
Her apron was o' the hollan fine,
linen from Holland
Laid about wi' laces nine;
She though it a pity her babe should tyne,
perish
      And she's row'd him in her apron. â
Her apron was o' the hollan sma,
10
Laid about wi' laces a',
She thought it a pity her babe to let fa,
      And she row'd him in her apron. â
Her father says within the ha'
hall
Amang the knights and nobles a'
among, all
15
I think I hear a babie ca,
call
In the chamber amang our young ladies. â
among
O father dear it is a bairn,
child
I hope it will do you nae harm.,
no
For the daddie I lo'ed, and he'll lo'e me again,
loved
20
      For the rowin 't in my apron. â
rolling it
O is he a gentleman, or is he a clown,
That has brought thy fair body down,
I would not for a' this town
      The rowin 't in the apron. â
25
Young Terreagles he's nae clown,
He is the toss of Edinborrow town,
toast, Edinburgh
And he'll buy me a braw new gown,
fine
      For the rowin 't in my apron. â
Its I hae castles, I hae towers,
have
30
I hae barns, I hae bowers,
A' that is mine it shall be thine,
      For the rowin 't in thy apron. â
This song is about the problems of Jacobite families in the wake of the 1715 rebellion. Lord John Maxwell was âYoung Terreagles'. It was printed anonymously on publication. Burns is supposed to have collected this song from an unidentified person in the vicinity of Dumfries, possibly one of the Highland Fencible soldiers stationed there during the mid-1790s.
Kinsley's remark implies that he should not have accepted the work to the canon, âI am inclined to take it as an alternative collected version, and not Burns's revision' (Vol. III, p. 1503). Mackay merely assumes the poet made corrections and includes it. However, given there are two manuscript copies, it is surely unlikely that the bard would have written it out twice without making some ammendments and improvements.
Tune: Charlie, He's My Darling
First printed in S.M.M. December, 1796.
'TWAS on a Monday morning,
      Right early in the year,
That Charlie came to our town,
      The Young Chevalier. â
Chorus
5
An' Charlie he's my darling, my darling, my darling,
Charlie he's my darling, the Young Chevalier. â
As he was walking up the street,
      The city for to view,
O there he spied a bonie lass
10
      The window looking thro'. â
            An' Charlie he's &c
Sae light's he jimped up the stair,
so, jumped
      And tirl'd at the pin;
knocked, latch
And wha sae ready as hersel
who so
      To let the laddie in. â
            An' Charlie he's &c
15
He set his Jenny on his knee,
      All in his Highland dress;
For brawlie weel he kend the way
finely well, knew
      To please a bonie lass. â
            An' Charlie he's &c
It's up yon heathery mountain,
20
      And down yon scroggy glen,
scrubby
We daurna gang a milking,
dare not go
      For Charlie and his men. â
            An' Charlie he's &c
Here, Burns has taken an old street song from the mid-1770s and grafted to it a Jacobite theme. The bard's success in this fine lyric was adapted after his death by Caroline Oliphant (1766â1845). See
Life and Songs of the Baroness Nairne: With a Memoir and Poems of
Caroline Oliphant the Younger
, ed. Rev. Charles Rogers (1869), pp. 125â6. The first verse and chorus are very similar to Burns's version. Like all of the poet's lyrics on the Jacobite theme, this song was unsigned in the S.M.M. The young Chevalier is, of course, Charles Edward Stewart.
Tune: Jack o Latin
First printed in Johnson, 1796.
Gat ye me, O, gat ye me,
got
      Gat ye me wi' naething,
nothing
Rock an' reel and spinning wheel
      A mickle quarter basin.
large
5
Bye attour, my Gutcher has
in addition, grandfather
      A hich house and a laigh ane,
high, low one
A' for bye my bonnie sel,
self
      The toss o' Ecclefechan. â
toast
O haud your tongue now Luckie Laing,
hold
10
      O haud your tongue and jauner;
hold, idle talk
I held the gate till you I met,
was celibate
      Syne I began to wander:
then
I tint my whistle and my sang,
lost, song
      I tint my peace and pleasure;
lost
15
But your green graff, now Luckie Laing,
grave
      Wad airt me to my treasure.
would direct/lead
This was unsigned in the S.M.M. It was first attributed to Burns in Cunningham's 1834 edition. Aware that Burns copied a bawdy version of this song for the Merry Muses, Cunningham assumed this work to be a cleaned-up version of the original. It does exist in the Hastie manuscripts, which tends to support Cunningham's case.
Tune: Bab at the Bowster
First printed in Johnson, 1796.
The Couper o' Cuddy cam here awa,
cooper, about here
He ca'd the girrs out o'er us a';
threw hoops, all
An' our guidwife has gotten a ca',
call
      That's anger'd the silly guidman O. â
husband
Chorus
5
We'll hi de the Couper behint the door,
Behint the door, behint the door;
We'll hide the couper behint the door,
      And cover him under a mawn O. â
basket
He sought them out, he sought them in,
10
Wi', deil hae her!' and, deil hae him!
devil have
But the body he was sae doited and blin',
stupid, blind
      He wist na where he was gaun O. â
knew not, going
            We'll hide &c.
They couper'd at e'en, they couper'd at morn,
evening
      Till our guidman has gotten the scorn;
15
On ilka brow she's planted a horn,
each, cuckold's horn
      And swears that there they sall stan' O. â
shall stand
            We'll hide &c.
This, like
The Lass o' Ecclefechan
, is included in the Hastie manuscripts, from which it is given as a work of Burns. However, given that it is unsigned in the S.M.M. it is at best a work he modified. An even bawdier version,
Cuddy the Cooper
, is in
The
Merry Muses
.
First printed in Jamieson, 1806.
Will ye go to the Highlands Leezie Lindsay,
      Will ye go to the Highlands wi' me;
Will ye go to the Highlands Leezie Lindsay,
      My pride and my darling to be.
This fragment was sent by Burns to Johnson who did not print it. The whole ballad was first printed in 1806. The song, now popular due to the success of the folk duo The Corries, is supposed to have been collected by Burns. His part in the lyric is usually quoted as the above.
First printed in Johnson, 1796.
My heart is sair, I dare na tell,
sore, not
      My heart is sair for Somebody;
sore
I could wake a winter-night
      For the sake o' Somebody. â
5
          Oh-hon! for Somebody!
          Oh-hey! for Somebody!
I could range the world round,
      For the sake o' Somebody. â
Ye Powers that smile on virtuous love,
10
      O, sweetly smile on Somebody!
Frae ilka danger keep him free,
from every
      And send me safe my Somebody. â
           Oh-hon! for Somebody!
           Oh-hey! for Somebody!
15
I wad do â what wad I not â
would
      For the sake o' Somebody!
This was signed âB' in the S.M.M. Burns took and adapted a lyric in Ramsay's
Tea-Table Miscellany
, Vol. 1. The repetitive âsomebody' is, of course, Bonnie Prince Charlie, who politically was unnameable after the 1745 rebellion.