Loud blaw the frosty breezes,
The snaws the mountains cover.
Like winter on me seizes,
Since my young Highland rover
Far wanders nations over.
Where'er he go, where'er he stray,
May Heaven be his warden;
Return him safe to fair Strathspey,
And bonnie Castle Gordon.

The trees now naked groaning,
Shall soon wi' leaves be hinging,
The birdies dowie moaning,
Shall a' be blythly singing,
And ev'ry flow'r be springing.
Sae I'll rejoice the lee lang day,
When (by the Mighty Warden)
My Youth's return'd to fair Strathspey,
And bonnie Castle Gordon.

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 207.

Note: according to the Bennett score, "my young Highland rover" (line 4) refers to "the young Chevalier, Prince Charles Edward"

GLOSSARY
Dowie = sadly

Composition:

Set to music by William Sterndale Bennett (1816 - 1875), "Castle Gordon", op. 36 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1856 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner, also set in German (Deutsch)

Text Authorship:

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The young Highland rover"

See other settings of this text.

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

• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2013-03-28
Line count: 18
Word count: 92