The white cockade

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.

Translation(s): FRE

List of language codes

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 225.

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

Submitted by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Authorship

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The white cockade" [ author's text checked 1 time]

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 white cockade", JHW. XXXII/1 no. 22, Hob. XXXIa no. 22. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

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

Text added to the website: 2012-10-04.
Last modified: 2014-10-23 12:32:46
Line count: 13
Word count: 91

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