by
Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
The white cockade
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Available translation(s): FRE
My love was born in Aberdeen,
The bonniest lad that e'er was seen,
But now he makes our hearts fu' sad,
He takes the field wi' his white cockade.
O, he's a ranting, roving lad!
He is a brisk and bonny lad!
Betide what may, I will be wed,
And follow the boy wi' the white cockade!
I'll sell my rock, my reel, my tow,
My gude grey mare and hawkit cow:
To buy mysell a tartan plaid,
To follow the boy wi' the white cockade.
O, he's a ranting, &c.
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 225.
GLOSSARY
The white cockade = it was the emblem worn by the Jacobites on their blue bonnets
Rock = spindle
Reel = spool, bobbin
Tow = rope, hemp or flax
Hawkit = white-faced
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "La cocarde blanche", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2012-10-04
Line count: 13
Word count: 91
La cocarde blanche
Language: French (Français)  after the Scottish (Scots)
Mon amour est né à Aberdeen,
Le plus beau garçon qu'on ait vu,
Mais aujourd'hui il emplit nos cœurs de tristesse,
Il est au champ de bataille avec sa cocarde blanche.
Refrain : Ô c'est un garçon enragé, vagabond !
C'est un garçon gaillard et joli !
Arrive ce qui pourra, je me marierai
Et suivrai le garçon à la cocarde blanche !
Je vendrai mon fuseau, ma bobine, mon chanvre,
Ma belle jument grise et ma vache au front blanc :
Pour m'acheter une écharpe de tartan
Pour suivre le garçon à la cocarde blanche.
Refrain.
Authorship:
- Translation from Scottish (Scots) to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Pierre Mathé, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The white cockade"
This text was added to the website: 2014-10-23
Line count: 13
Word count: 97