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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Of a' the airts the wind can blaw
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Of a' the airts the wind can blaw, 
	I dearly like the west, 
For there the bonnie Lassie lives, 
  The Lassie I lo'e best: 
There's wild-woods grow, and rivers row, 
  And mony a hill between; 
But day and night my fancy's flight 
  Is ever wi' my Jean. 

I see her in the dewy flowers, 
  I see her sweet and fair; 
I hear her in the tunefu' birds, 
  I hear her charm the air: 
There's not a bonnie flower that springs 
  By fountain, shaw, or green; 
There's not a bonnie bird that sings, 
  But minds me o' my Jean.

About the headline (FAQ)

Tune: Miss Admiral Gordon's Strathspey

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), no title, written 1788 [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 David Arditti (b. 1964), "I Love my Jean", op. 1 no. 4, first performed 1994, from Burns Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Of a' the airts", op. 10 no. 1, published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Two Love Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "The Poet's ain Jean", Hob. XXXIa:230, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 219 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Joseph Holbrooke (1878 - 1958), "My Jean", op. 54 no. 3, published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Dramatic Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "My Jean" [ voice and piano ], from Five Burns Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "Of a' the airts the wind can blaw", published 1936 [ baritone and piano ], from Scottish Lyrics, Book 4, no. 2, Bayley & Ferguson [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Of a' the airts", 1885, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs by Robert Burns, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "The lassie I love best", published 1876 [ voice and piano ], London: Duncan Davison [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Caspara Preezmann (1792 - 1876) , "Længsel", appears in Digte og Sange ved Caralis, first published 1868 ; composed by Agathe Ursula Backer-Grøndahl.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri-François-Louis-Auguste Potez (1863 - c1946) ; composed by André Gédalge.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802 - 1846) , no title, appears in Gedichte von Robert Burns [an adaptation] ; composed by Reinhold Ludwig Herman, Hans Michael Schletterer.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Meine Jean" ; composed by Karl Anton Florian Eckert, Moritz Hauptmann.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Johann Peter Cornelius D'Alquen.
      • Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Všech úhlů světa"


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 98

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