Where Cart rins rowing to the sea,
By mony a flow'r and spreading tree,
There lives a lad, the lad for me,
He is a gallant [weaver]1.
 
Oh I had wooers eight or nine,
They gied me rings and ribbons fine;
And I was fear'd my heart wou'd tine,
And I gied it to the [weaver]1.
 
My daddie sign'd my tocher band,
To gi'e the lad that has the land,
But to my heart I'll add my hand,
And gi'e it to the [weaver]1.
 
While birds rejoice in leafy bowers;
While bees delight in opening flowers;
While corn grows green in [simmer]2 showers,
I love my gallant [weaver]1.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Robert Burns, The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1919, page 421.

Glossary
Ayont = beyond
Rowing = rolling
Tine = be lost
Tocher band = marriage settlement, dowry

¹ Haydn: "sailor"
² Haydn: "summer"

Text Authorship:

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Gallant Weaver" [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 auld wife ayont the fire", JHW. XXXII/3 no. 225, Hob. XXXIa no. 195 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Bernhard Dessau, Catharinus Elling, Eugène Jámbor.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Dvorný tkadlec"
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La vieille femme près du feu", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ferdinando Albeggiani , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 117