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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Yestreen I met you on the moor
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
Yestreen I met you on the moor,
Ye spake na, but gaed by like stoure !
Ye geck at me because I'm poor,
But fient a hair care I.
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day
    Ye wadna been sae shy;
    For lack o' gear ye lightly me,
    But trowth I care na by.

When comin hame on Sunday last,
Upon the road as I cam past,
Ye snufft an' gae your head a cast —
But, trowth, I care't na by !
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...
 
I doubt na, lass, but ye may think,
Because ye hae the name o' clink,
That ye can please me at a wink,
Whene'er ye like to try.
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...

But sorrow tak' him that's sae mean,
Although his pouch o' coin were clean,
Wha follows ony saucy quean
That looks sae proud and high !
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...

Although a lad were e'er sae smart,
If he but want the yellow dirt,
Ye'll cast your head anither airt,
And answer him fu' dry.
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...

But if he hae the name o' gear,
Ye'll fasten to him like a brier,
Tho' hardly he, for sense or lear,
Be better than the kye.
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...

But Tibbie, lass, tak' my advice:
Your daddie's gear maks you sae nice,
The deil a ane would speir your price,
Were ye as poor as I.
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...

There lives a lass in beside yon park,
I'd rather hae her in her sark
Than you wi' a' your thousand mark,
That gars you look sae high.
    O Tibbie! I hae seen the day...

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   J. Haydn 

J. Haydn sets stanzas 1, 3-8

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 214.

Glossary

Gear = riches, good of any kind
Lightly = sneer at
I care na by = I am indifferent
Stoure = dust in motion
Geck = mock
Fient = never
Clink = cash
Quean = buxom lass
Airt = place
Lear = learning
Kye = cows
Spear = ask, enquire
Sark = shirt


Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "O Tibbie! I hae seen the day" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Go to the general view


Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-13
Line count: 43
Word count: 295

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