Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
The Canongate Burns (139 page)
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
On peace and rest my mind was bent,
     And fool I was I marry'd;
But never honest man's intent
     As cursedly miscarry'd.
Chorus
5
O ay my wife she dang me,
struck
     An' aft my wife she bang'd me,
oft, thumped
If ye gie a woman a' her will
give
     Gude faith she'll soon oergang ye.
good, over run/rule
Some sairie comfort at the last,
sorry
10
     When a' thir days are done, man,
all their
My pains o' hell on earth is past,
     I'm sure o' bliss aboon, man.
above (heaven)
          O ay my wife &c.
Despite the fact that the S.M.M. records âWritten for this work by Robert Burns' a copy has never been found in manuscript. Stenhouse claimed it was based on a traditional bawdy song. This is probably correct given that one stanza of the original work is quoted in HenleyâHenderson (See Vol. III, p. 439).
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
THERE was a wife wonn'd in Cockpen, Scroggam;
who dwelled
She brew'd gude ale for gentlemen,
good
       Sing Auld Cowl, lay you down by me,
(see notes)
5
       Scroggam, my Dearie, ruffum.
The gudewife's dochter fell in a fever, Scroggam;
daughter
The priest o' the parish fell in anither,
another
       Sing Auld Cowl, lay you down by me,
10
       Scroggam, my Dearie, ruffum.
They laid the twa i' the bed thegither, Scroggam;
two, together
That the heat o' the tane might cool the tither,
one, other
       Sing Auld Cowl, lay you down by me,
15
       Scroggam, my Dearie, ruffum.
The S.M.M. states âWritten for this work by Robert Burns', but it is not a wholly original lyric. The first line is taken from a song preserved by Burns in the
Merry Muses
, âThere wonned a wife in Whistlecockpen'. âAuld Cowl' (l. 4) refers to a religious figure, probably a priest. Kinsley mentions that a colleague of his believed the word âscroggam' to be a derivative of âscrag 'em', a yell associated with London street mobs; likewise, âruffum' derives from ârough 'em'. This may be true, but given the original bawdy song, it is more likely that these words have a sexual meaning.
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
I had sax owsen in a pleugh,
six oxen, plough
     And they drew a' weel eneugh:
well enough
I sald them a' just ane by ane â
sold, one by one
     Guid ale keeps the heart aboon!
good, above
Chorus
5
O gude ale comes, and gude ale goes,
good
     Gude ale gars me sell my hose,
makes
Sell my hose and pawn my shoon,
shoes
     Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.
above
Gude ale hauds me bare and busy,
keeps
10
     Gars me moop wi' the servant hizzie,
makes, have sex, hussy
Stand i' the stool when I hae dune,
(church stool) have done
     Guid ale keeps the heart aboon.
above
The comment âCorrected by R. Burns' in the S.M.M. indicates that this is based on a traditional song. The fact that there are two mansucript copies reinforces this view, given that one appears to be collected by Burns from oral tradition and the second manuscript is the one improved by Burns and sent to Johnson.
Tune: My Lady's Gown, There's Gairs Upon 'T
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
MY Lord a hunting he is gane,
gone
But hounds or hawks wi' him are nane;
none
By Colin's cottage lies his game,
If Colin's Jenny be at hame.
home
Chorus
5
My Lady's gown there's gairs upon 't,
panels (gores)
And gowden flowers sae rare upon 't;
golden, so
But Jenny's jimps and jirkinet
blouse, bodice
My Lord thinks meikle mair upon 't.
much more
My Lady's white, my Lady's red
10
And kith and kin o' Cassillis' blude,
blood
But her tenpund lands o' tocher gude
pounds, dowry good
Were a' the charms his Lordship lo'ed.
loved
      My Lady's gown &c.
Out o'er yon moor, out o'er yon moss,
Whare gor-cocks thro' the heather pass,
where red grouse
15
There wons auld Colin's bonie lass,
dwells old
A lily in a wilderness.
      My Lady's gown &c.
Sae sweetly move her genty limbs,
so, dainty
Like music-notes o' Lovers' hymns;
The diamond-dew in her een sae blue
eyes so
20
Where laughing love sae wanton swims.
so
      My Lady's gown &c.
My Lady's dink, my Lady's drest,
trim
The flower and fancy o' the west;
But the Lassie that a man loe's best,
loves
O that's the lass to mak him blest.
      My Lady's gown &c.
This is marked by Johnson âWritten for this work by Robert Burns' in the S.M.M. but it does appear to be completely original. There is, however, no known traditional text for this blend of folk-song and ballad. Cunningham states that an Ayrshire musician, James Gregg, composed the music. Cassillis refers to the land of the Kennedy clan who ruled Carrick and the song is probably based on one of that family.
Tune: Kinloch of Kinloch or Blow the Wind Southerly
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
SWEETEST May let Love inspire thee;
Take a heart which he designs thee;
As thy constant slave regard it;
For its faith and truth reward it.
Proof o' shot to Birth or Money,
Not the wealthy, but the bonie;
Not high-born, but noble-minded,
In Love's silken band can bind it.
This is an update of a song in Ramsay's
Tea-Table Miscellany
,
My
Sweetest May Let Love Incline Thee
, sometimes called
There's My
Thumb I'll Ne'er Beguile Thee
. The first five lines merely abbreviate the original, the last three are from Burns.
Tune: Bonie Lass Tak a Man
First printed in Currie, 1800.
JOCKEY'S ta'en the parting kiss,
taken
      O'er the mountains he is gane;
gone
And with him is a' my bliss,
all
      Nought but griefs with me remain.
5
Spare my luve, ye winds that blaw,
blow
      Plashy sleets and beating rain;
splashing
Spare my luve, thou feath'ry snaw,
snow
      Drifting o'er the frozen plain.
When the shades of evening creep
10
      O'er the day's fair, gladsome e'e,
eye/light
Sound and safely may he sleep,
      Sweetly blythe his waukening be.
waking
He will think on her he loves,
      Fondly he'll repeat her name;
15
For where'er he distant roves
      Jockey's heart is still at hame.
home
Although first published in Currie in 1800, this also appears in Johnson's S.M.M. in 1803. It is described by Kinsley (and in Mackay) as merely a Scottish revision of an English song written originally in 1776, as if Burns simply translated it into Scots. In this case the song is far more adapted and changed by Burns than these editors suggest.
Tune: The Shoemaker's March
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
A SLAVE to Love's unbounded sway,
He aft has wrought me meikle wae;
often, great woe
But now he is my deadly fae,
foe
Unless thou be my ain.
own
Chorus
5
O lay thy loof in mine lass,
palm
       In mine lass, in mine lass,
And swear on thy white hand lass,
       That thou wilt be my ain.
own
There's monie a lass has broke my rest,
many
10
That for a blink I hae lo'ed best;
glance, have loved
But thou art queen within my breast
For ever to remain.
       O lay thy loof &c.
This was sent to Johnson in the spring of 1795 (Letter 667) but he waited until 1803 to print it.
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
CAULD is the e'enin blast cold,
evening
      O' Boreas o'er the pool,
the North wind
An' dawin it is dreary,
dawning
      When birks are bare at Yule.
birches, Christmas
5
O cauld blaws the e'enin blast
cold blows
      When bitter bites the frost,
And in the mirk and dreary drift
dark
      The hills and glens are lost.
Ne'er sae murky blew the night
so dirty
10
      That drifted o'er the hill,
But bonie Peg a Ramsey
      Gat grist to her mill.
got
This is often printed under the title
Cauld is the E'enin Blast
, but Mackay's title is probably best suited because it emphasises the sexual metaphor of milling associated with Peggy Ramsay, a name famed in bawdy song from before the time of Shakespeare. (In
Twelfth Night
, Act 2, Scene 3, Sir Toby Belch says, âMalvolio's a Peg-a-Ramsay'.)
First printed in Johnson, 1803.0
      THERE was a bonie lass,
      And a bonie, bonie lass,
And she lo'ed her bonie laddie dear;
loved
      Till war's loud alarms
5
      Tore her laddie frae her arms,
from
Wi' monie a sigh and a tear.
many
      Over sea, over shore,
      Where the cannons loudly roar;
He still was a stranger to fear:
10
      And nocht could him quail,
nothing
      Or his bosom assail,
But the bonie lass he lo'ed sae dear.
loved so
This is probably based on a traditional song which editors have been unable to trace. Henderson and Henley call it a âcento of old catchwords' (Vol. III, p. 445).
'
s News Lasses News
Tune: Captain MacKenzie's Reel
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
THERE'S news, lasses, news,
      Gude news I've to tell,
good
There's a boatfu' o' lads
      Come to our town to sell.
Chorus
5
The wean wants a cradle,
child lacks
      And the cradle wants a cod,
pillow
An' I'll no gang to my bed
not go
      Until I get a nod.
Father, quo' she, Mither, quo' she,
mother
10
      Do what you can,
I'll no gang to my bed
go
      Until I get a man.
          The wean &c.
I hae as guid a craft rig
have, good, croft ridge
      As made o' yird and stane;
earth, stone
15
And waly fa' the ley-crap
woe befall, meadow crop
      For I maun till'd again.
must till it
         The wean &c.
Here Burns has woven together a fragment of a song from the Herd collection (1769), along with a traditional lyric
I Wanna Gang to My
Bed Until I Get a Man
. The final stanza is from Burns.
First printed in Johnson, 1803.
O that I had ne'er been married,
       I wad never had nae care,
would, no
Now I've gotten wife and bairns
children
       An' they cry crowdie ever mair.
for food, more
Chorus
5
Ance crowdie, twice crowdie,
       Three times crowdie in a day;
Gin ye crowdie onie mair,
if, any more
       Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away.
eat all
Waefu' Want and Hunger fley me,
woeful, terrify
10
       Glowrin by the hallan en';
staring, porch entrance
Sair I fecht them at the door,
sore, fight
       But ay I'm eerie they come ben.
always, afraid, inside
              Ance crowdie &c.
Johnson prints this as âCorrected by R. Burns'. Only the final verse, by far the most distinctive part of the song, is by Burns: the main text is traditional.