by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Hark! the mavis' evening sang
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Available translation(s): FRE
Hark! the mavis' evening sang Sounding Clouden's woods amang, Then a-faulding let us gang, My bonnie dearie. Ca' the yowes to the knowes, Ca' them where the heather grows, Ca' them where the burnie rows, My bonnie dearie. We'll gae down by Clouden side, Through the hazels, spreading wide O'er the waves that sweetly glide To the moon sae clearly. Ca' the yowes etc. Yonder Clouden's silent towers, Where at moonshine midnight hours O'er the dewy bending flowers Fairies dance sae cheery. Ca' the yowes etc. Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear; Thou'rt to Love and Heaven sae dear, Nocht of ill may come thee near, My bonnie dearie. Ca' the yowes etc. Fair and lovely as thou art, Thou hast stown my very heart; I can die -- but canna part, My bonnie dearie. Ca' the yowes etc. While waters wimple to the sea; While day blinks in the lift sae hie; Till clay-cauld death shall blin' my e'e, Ye shall be my dearie. Ca' the yowes etc.
J. Haydn sets stanzas 1, 4-5
M. Johnson sets stanzas 1-2, 5
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesGLOSSARY
mavis' = thrush
faulding = to shut sheep in the fold
knowes = Small round hillocks
bogle = hobgoblin
stown = stolen
Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), title 1: "Hark! the mavis", title 2: "Ca' the yowes to the knowes" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "The maid that tends the goats", Hob. XXXIa:221bis, JHW XXXII/3 no. 211, stanzas 1,4-5 [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maurice Johnson , "Ca' the yowes", stanzas 1-2,5, arrangement [ sung text checked 1 time]
Set in a modified version by Benjamin Britten, John Linton Gardner, Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Konrad Wilhelm Adolf Laun (1808 - 1881) , no title, appears in Lieder und Balladen von Robert Burns FRE ; composed by Ernst II, Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, as S. Herzog.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 33
Word count: 168