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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Auld Rob Morris
 (Sung text for setting by J. Haydn)
 See original
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
There's auld Rob Morris that wons in yon glen,
He's the king of gude fellows, and wale of auld men;
He has gowd in his coffers, he has sheep, he has kine,
And ae bonnie lassie, his darling and mine.

She's fresh as the morning, the fairest in May,
She's sweet as the ev'ning amang the new hay;
As blythe and as artless as the lambs on the lea,
And dear to my heart as the light to my e'e.

But oh, she's an heiress, auld Robin's a laird,
And my daddie has nought but a cot-house and yard:
A wooer like me maunna hope to come speed;
The wounds I maun hide which will soon be my dead.

 ... 

O had she but been of a lower degree,
I then might hae hop'd she wad smil'd upon me!
O, how past descriving had then been my bliss,
As now my distraction no words can express!

See also this folksong.

Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 271.

Glossary

Wons = dwells
Wale = choice
Gowd = gold
Kine = cows
Laird = man of landed property
Cot-house = tied or rented cottage on a farm
Maunna = must not
Descriving = describing

Composition:

    Set to music by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Auld Rob Morris", JHW. XXXII/3 no. 184, Hob. XXXIa no. 192, stanzas 1-3,5

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Auld Rob Morris"

Go to the general single-text view

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Starý Rob Morris"
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le vieux Rob Morris", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 196

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