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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Josef Václav Sládek (1845 - 1912)

Bess and her spinning wheel
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
O leeze me on my spinnin-wheel!
And leeze me on my rock and reel,
Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien,
And haps me fiel and warm at e'en!
I'll set me down and sing and spin,
While laigh descends the simmer sun,
Blest wi' content, and milk and meal –
O leeze me on my spinnin-wheel!

On ilka hand the burnies trot,
And meet below my theekit cot.
The scented birk and hawthorn white
Across the pool their arms unite,
Alike to screen the birdie's nest
And little fishes' callor rest:
The sun blinks kindly in the biel'
Where, blythe I turn my spinnin wheel.

On lofty aiks the cushats wail,
And Echo cons the doolfu' tale; 
The lintwhites in the hazel braes,
Delighted, rival ithers lays:
The craik amang the claver hay,
The pairtrick whirrin o'er the ley,
The swallow jinkin round my shiel,
Amuse me at my spinnin wheel.-

Wi' sma' to sell, and less to buy,
Aboon distress, below envy,
O wha wad leave this humble state,
For a' the pride of a' the Great?
Amid their flairing, idle toys,
Amid their cumbrous, dinsome joys,
Can they the peace and pleasure feel
Of Bessy at her spinnin wheel!

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 240.


Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Bess and her spinning wheel" [author's text checked 2 times 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), "Bess and her spinning wheel", Hob. XXXIa no. 147, JHW. XXXII/2 no. 147 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "Bess and her spinning wheel", c1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Georg Pertz (1830 - 1870) ; composed by Bruno Ramann.
      • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "U kolovrátku"
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Oh que j'aime mon rouet !", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 203

U kolovrátku
Language: Czech (Čeština)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Můj kolovrátek buď mi zdráv,
můj kužel, naviják i stav;
od hlavy k patě dá mi šat
a povlaky, v nichž teplo spát!
Já sednu, zpívám, předu len,
až k západu se kloní den;
svůj chléb a mléko vezmu teď, —
můj kolovrátku, přeď mi, přeď!

Dva potůčky mi bublají,
pod chaloupkou se stékají,
a břízy, hloh kdy vypučí,
si přes tůň padnou v náručí
a chrání hnízda před žehem
a malé rybky pod břehem;
slunečko zlatí každou sněť, —
můj kolovrátku, přeď mi, přeď!

Kdes v doubí doupnák zastýská,
zní ozvěna od skaliska,
a ořechovém na keři
konopky zpěvem soupeří.
Teď chřástal volá v jeteli,
teď koroptvičky letěly
a vlaštovka se mihla, hleď, —
můj kolovrátku, přeď mi, přeď!

Za malou mzdu, však bez potřeb
jím v pokoji svůj vlastní chléb; —
kdo změnil by ten prostý stav
za velkých moc a zlatohlav?
V tom lesku svém a honu, hrách
a hlučných panských zábavách
zda šťastni jsou, jak já jsem teď? —
Můj kolovrátku, před mi, přeď!

Confirmed with BURNS, Robert. Výbor z písní a ballad, translated by Josef Václav Sládek, Praha: J. Otto, 1892.


Text Authorship:

  • by Josef Václav Sládek (1845 - 1912), "U kolovrátku" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Bess and her spinning wheel"
    • 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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-08-11
Line count: 32
Word count: 168

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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