by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

The white cockade
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  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

Text 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