Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
The Canongate Burns (57 page)
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
Ye gallants bright I red you right,
advise/warn
       Beware o' bonie Ann;
Her comely face sae fu' o' grace,
so full
       Your heart she will trepan.
ensnare/trap
5
Her een sae bright, like stars by night,
eyes so
       Her skin is like the swan;
Sae jimply lac'd her genty waist
so tightly, graceful
       That sweetly ye might span.
Youth, grace and love attendant move,
10
       And Pleasure leads the van:
In a' their charms, and conquering arms,
       They wait on bonie Ann.
The captive bands may chain the hands,
       But Love enslaves the man:
15
Ye gallants braw, I rede you a',
advise, all
       Beware o' bonie Ann.
Composed in 1788 on Miss Ann Masterton, daughter to the poet's Edinburgh friend, the school teacher Allan Masterton (composer of musical airs, inter alia,
Strathallan's Lament
).
Tune: The Gardener's March
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
When rosy May comes in wi' flowers
To deck her gay, green, spreading bowers;
Then busy, busy are his hours,
        The Gardener wi' his paidle. â
hoe/spade
5
The chrystal waters gently fa';
crystal, fall
The merry birds are lovers a';
all
The scented breezes round him blaw,
blow
        The Gardener wi' his paidle. â
hoe
When purple morning starts the hare
10
To steal upon her early fare;
food
Then thro' the dew he maun repair,
must
        The Gardener wi' his paidle. â
When Day, expiring in the west,
The curtain draws o' Nature's rest,
15
He flies to her arms he lo'es best,
loves
        The Gardener wi' his paidle. â
This was unsigned by Burns on publication, but he states in the Interleaved S.M.M. that the title is old and the song his. This is a man who fertilises everything he and his âpaidle' touches.
Tune: The Bashful Lover
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
On a bank of flowers in a summer day,
       For summer lightly drest,
The youthful blooming Nelly lay,
       With love and sleep opprest.
5
When Willie wand'ring thro' the wood,
       Who for her favour oft had sued;
He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd,
       And trembled where he stood.
Her closed eyes like weapons sheath'd
10
       Were seal'd in soft repose;
Her lips, still as she fragrant breath'd
       It richer dyed the rose.
The springing lilies sweetly prest,
       Wild, wanton kiss'd her rival breast;
15
He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd,
       His bosom ill at rest.
Her robes light waving in the breeze,
       Her tender limbs embrace;
Her lovely form, her native ease,
20
       All harmony and grace:
Tumultuous tides his pulses roll,
       A faltering, ardent kiss he stole;
He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd,
       And sigh'd his very soul.
25
As flies the partridge from the brake
       On fear-inspired wings,
So Nelly starting, half-awake,
       Away affrighted springs.
But Willie follow'd, â as he should,
30
       He overtook her in the wood;
He vow'd, he pray'd, he found the maid
       Forgiving all, and good.
This song is based on one of the same title printed in the
Tea Table
Miscellany,
Volume 3, 1727. It is signed as from Burns in the S.M.M., suggesting that it is mostly new lyrics by Burns. Onthis type of lyrical romance Kinsley remarks âThe situation is a common one in Restoration and eighteenth-century pastoral' (Vol. III, no. 292, p. 1331). It could also be remarked that it is deeply pre-Keatsian.
â
Tune: Miss Farquarson's ReelÂ
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
Chorus
        My love, she's but a lassie yet,
        My love, she's but a lassie yet;
        We'll let her stand a year or twa,
two
        She'll no be half sae saucy yet. â
so
5
        I rue the day I sought her O,
        I rue the day I sought her O,
Wha gets her needs na say he's woo'd,
who, not
        But he may say he has bought her O. â
                My love, she's &c.
        Come draw a drap o' the best o't yet,
pour, drop
10
        Come draw a drap o' the best o't yet:
Gae seek for Pleasure whare ye will,
go, where
        But here I never misst it yet. â
missed
                My love, she's &c.
        We're a' dry wi' drinkin o't,
        We're a' dry wi' drinkin o't:
15
The minister kisst the fiddler's wife,
        He could na preach for thinkin o't. â
not
                My love, she's &c.
This is another example of a song where Burns took the title from an old song and re-wrote the lyric: the first, repetitive lines of the chorus and the final âhalf stanza' are old (See Scott Douglas, Vol. 1, p. 244 and Low, no. 133, p. 378). The tune is known as both the above title and
My Love, She's but a Lassie Yet.
Tune: Jamie, Come Try Me.
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
If thou should ask my love,
       Could I deny thee?
If thou would win my love,
       Jamie come try me.
Chorus
5
Jamie come try me,
       Jamie come try me,
If thou would win my love
       Jamie come try me.
If thou should kiss me, love,
10
Wha could espy thee?
If thou wad be my love,
       Jamie come try me.
              Jamie, come try &c.
Here Burns, as Low comments (no. 153), has composed lyrics for a tune printed in Oswald's 1742 collection of Scottish tunes, he wished to preserve.
Tune: The Secret Kiss
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
Go fetch to me a pint o' wine,
       And fill it in a silver tassie;
cup/goblet
That I may drink, before I go,
       A service to my bonie lassie:
5
The boat rocks at the Pier o' Leith,
       Fu' loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry,
full, blows, from
The ship rides by the Berwick-law,
       And I maun leave my bony Mary.
must
The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
10
       The glittering spears are ranked ready,
The shouts o' war are heard afar,
       The battle closes deep and bloody.
It's not the roar o' sea or shore,
       Wad mak me langer wish to tarry,
would, longer
15
Nor shouts o' war that's heard afar â
       It's leaving thee, my bony Mary!
Burns affirms that other than the first four lines, this song is his (Letter 586). The title in some editions is
The Silver Tassie
. On publication it was called
My Bony Mary
, so that title is given here. The âFerry' referred to is Queensferry. The Berwick-law, according to Chambers edition, is a hill near the shore on the Firth of Forth visible from Edinburgh, near Berwick; but it may refer to the Bass Rock.
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
The lazy mist hangs from the brow of the hill,
Concealing the course of the dark winding rill;
How languid the scenes, late so sprightly, appear,
As Autumn to Winter resigns the pale year.
5
The forests are leafless, the meadows are brown,
And all the gay foppery of Summer is flown:
Apart let me wander, apart let me muse,
How quick Time is flying, how keen Fate pursues.
How long I have liv'd â but how much liv'd in vain;
10
How little of life's scanty span may remain:
What aspects, old Time, in his progress has worn;
What ties, cruel Fate, in my bosom has torn.
How foolish, or worse, till our summit is gain'd!
And downward, how weaken'd, how darken'd, how pain'd!
15
Life is not worth having with all it can give,
For something beyond it poor man sure must live.
This is an original work of Burns. A copy was sent to Dr Blacklock from Mauchline on 15th November 1788. The final couplet carries the same sentiment as âAnd a' the comfort we're to get,/ Is that ayont the grave, man' from
The Tree of Liberty
(ll. 71â2), without that later poem's sense of revolutionary, redemptive freedom achievable in this life.
Tune: Mount Your Baggage
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
When the drums do beat,
        And the cannons rattle,
Thou shalt sit in state,
        And see thy love in battle.
Chorus
5
O mount and go,
        Mount and make you ready,
O mount and go,
        And be the Captain's Lady.
When the vanquish'd foe
10
        Sues for peace and quiet,
To the shades we'll go,
        And in love enjoy it.
                O, mount and go, &c.
Henley and Henderson suggest that a broadside called
The Liggar
Lady
is probably the basis of this song (Vol. 3, p. 344). Kinsley also accepts this (Vol. III, p. 1332). The finished work differs significantly from the traditional one.
Tune: Miss Admiral Gordon's Strathspey
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
Of a' the airts the wind can blaw,
directions, blow
       I dearly like the West,
For there the bonie Lassie lives,
       The Lassie I lo'e best:
love
5
There 's wild woods grow, and rivers row,
roll
       And mony a hill between;
many
But day and night my fancy's flight
       Is ever wi' my Jean. âÂ
I see her in the dewy flowers,
10
       I see her sweet and fair;
I hear her in the tunefu' birds,
       I hear her charm the air:
There's not a bonie flower, that springs
       By fountain, shaw, or green;
woodland
15
There's not a bony bird that sings
       But minds me o' my Jean. âÂ
In the Interleaved S.M.M. Burns writes âThis song ⦠I composed out of compliment to Mrs Burns'. The evocative strathspey was composed by William Marshall who worked for the Duke of Gordon. A music-seller in Edinburgh, John Hamilton, added two stanzas to this song, but they were never fully incorporated by Burnsians due to their mediocrity. Hamilton is probably responsible for some other fake lyrics attributed to Burns during the nineteenth century (See ChambersâWallace, 1896, p. 270, footnote 1).
First printed in the S.M.M., Vol. 3, 2nd February, 1790.
An somebodie were come again,
Then somebodie maun cross the main,
must
And every man shall hae his ain,
have, own
       Carl an the King come.
old man
Â
Chorus
5
Carl an the King come,
Carl an the King come;
Thou shalt dance and I will sing,
       Carl an the King come.
I trow we swapped for the warse:
trust, worse
10
We gae the boot and better horse;
gave
An that we'll tell them at the cross,
       Carl an the King come.
Coggie an the King come,
drinking jug
Coggie an the King come,
15
I'll be fou an thou'se be toom,
drunk, empty
       Coggie an the King come.Â
âCarl', meaning old man, is a reference to Prince Charles Edward Stuart. A song of this title existed in Cromwellian times, but several variants appear as Jacobite songs in the eighteenth century. It is partly traditional, partly Burns.