Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair; How can ye [chant]1, ye little birds, And I sae weary, fu' o' care! Thou'lt break my heart, thou warbling bird, That [wantons]2 thro' the [flowering]3 thorn: Thou minds me o' departed joys, Departed -- never to return! [Aft]4 hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon, To see the rose and woodbine twine; And ilka bird sang o' its [luve]5, And fondly sae did I o' mine. Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose, Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree; [And my fause luver]6 [stole the]7 rose, [But, ah! he]8 left the thorn wi' me.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing His Poems, Songs and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical, by Allan Cunningham. Elegantly illustrated, Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, 1859, page 257.
1 Grainger, Quilter: "chaunt"2 Grainger: "warbles"
3 Quilter: "flower"; Grainger: "flow'ring"
4 Quilter: "Oft"
5 Quilter: "love"
6 Grainger, Quilter: "But my fause lover"
7 Grainger: "staw my"
8 Quilter: "And oh, he"
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Banks o' Doon", subtitle: "[Second version]" [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 Alexandre Georges (1850 - 1938), "Chanson écossaise", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], Moscow : Jurgenson [sung text not yet checked]
- by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882 - 1961), "Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon", 1901-32, published 1937 [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Ye banks and braes", published 1947 [ voice and piano ], from The Arnold Book of Old Songs, no. 6, London, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Ye Banks And Braes", op. 468 (1956) [sung text not yet checked]
Set in a modified version by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, Maurice Ravel.
Set in a modified version by David Arditti, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Am Ufer des Doon", page 191, poem No. 108, first published 1840 ; composed by Robert Franz, Moritz Hauptmann, Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987) , "Du liebe Flur im Seengrund", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Hans Gál.
- Also set in Scottish (Scots), [adaptation] ; composed by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, Maurice Ravel.
- Also set in Scottish (Scots), [adaptation] ; composed by Hans Gál.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Břehy Doonu"
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: John Versmoren
This text was added to the website: 2004-07-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 118
Vous, rives escarpées de la belle Doon, Comment pouvez-vous fleurir si fraîches et si jolies ? Comment pouvez-vous chanter, vous, petits oiseaux, Quand je suis si triste et plein de soucis ? Tu veux briser mon cœur, oiseau qui gazouille, Qui chante sur les épines en fleurs, Tu me rappelles les joies disparues. Disparues pour ne jamais revenir. Souvent j'ai erré au bord de la belle Doon, Dans l'éclat du matin ou du soir Pour entendre les oiseaux chanter leurs amours Aussi tendrement que je chantais jadis le mien. Avec un cœur léger j'ai tendu ma main Et j'ai cueilli un bouton de rose de l'arbre. Mais mon fourbe amour a volé la rose Et m'a laissé les épines.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of title(s):
"Scottish Song" = "Chant écossais"
"Ye banks and braes o' bonnie doon" = "Vous, rives escarpées de la belle Doon"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Scottish (Scots) to French (Français) copyright © 2017 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The Banks o' Doon", subtitle: "[Second version]"
This text was added to the website: 2017-02-06
Line count: 16
Word count: 117