Highland lullaby | Sleep, sweet little Donald

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by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Hochländisches Wiegenlied

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG

   Schlafe, süßer, kleiner Donald,
Ebenbild des großen Ronald!
Wer ihm kleinen Dieb gebar,
Weiß der edle Clan auf's Haar.
 
   Schelm, hast Äuglein schwarz wie Kohlen!
Wenn du groß bist, stiehl ein Fohlen;
Geh' die Ebne ab und zu,
Bringe heim 'ne Carlisle Kuh!
 
   Darfst im Niederland nicht fehlen;
Dort, mein Bübchen, magst du stehlen;
Stiehl dir Geld und stiehl dir Glück,
Und in's Hochland komm zurück!

Confirmed with Robert Burns’ Gedichte deutsch von W. Gerhard, Leipzig: Verlag von Joh. Ambr. Barth, 1840, page 233

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858), "Hochländisches Wiegenlied" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Heinrich von Sahr (1821 - 1874), "Hochländisches Wiegenlied", op. 11 (Sechs Lieder für Alt mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1878 [ alto and piano ], Leipzig, Senff [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Hochländisches Wiegenlied", op. 25 no. 14 (1840), published 1840 [ voice and piano ], from Myrten, no. 14, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Marta Garcia Cadena) , "La cançó de bressol de la terra alta", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Hooglands wiegenlied", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Highland lullaby", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Pilar Lirio , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

Highland lullaby

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

   Sleep, sweet little Donald,
The image of the great Ronald!
The noble clan knows exactly
Who bore the little rascal for Ronald.
 
   Little rogue, you have eyes as black as coals!
When you are grown up, steal a foal;
Go hither and thither on the plain,
Bring home a Carlisle cow!
 
   You must not be absent from the lowlands;
There, my little lad, you may steal;
Steal money and steal happiness,
And return to the highlands!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858), "Hochländisches Wiegenlied"
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-01-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 77