Annie Laurie | Maxwelton braes are bonnie

Annie Laurie

Language: English

Our translations: IRI

Maxwelton [braes]¹ are bonnie
Where early fa's the dew,
And it's there that Annie Laurie
Gie'd me her promise true--
Gie'd me her promise true,
Which ne'er forgot will be;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doune and dee.

Her brow is like the snawdrift,
Her throat is like the swan,
Her face it is the fairest
That e'er the sun shone on--
That e'er the sun shone on;
And dark blue is her e'e;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doune and dee.

Like dew on the gowan lying
Is the fa' o' her fairy feet;
Like the winds in summer sighing,
Her voice is low and sweet--
Her voice is low and sweet;
And she's a' the world to me;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doune and dee.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Lady Scott: "banks"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

by William Douglas (1672? - 1748), "Annie Laurie" [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 Ben Moore (b. 1960), "Annie Laurie" [ medium-high voice and piano ], from 14 Songs, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
by Alicia Ann Spottiswoode (1810 - 1900), as Lady John Douglas Scott, "Annie Laurie", published 1860? [ voice and piano ], London : Cramer, Beale & Co.; arranged with symphonies and accompaniments by Edward F. Rimbault [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Julius Rodenberg (1831 - 1914) [an adaptation] ; composed by Hans Heinrich XIV, Graf Bolko von Hochberg, Adalbert Laszky.

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-28
Line count: 24
Word count: 138