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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858)

Rattlin' Roarin' Willie
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
O Rattlin, roarin Willie,
  O he held to the fair,
An' for to sell his fiddle
  And buy some other ware;
But parting wi' his fiddle,
  The saut tear blin't his e'e;
And Rattlin, roarin Willie,
  Ye're welcome hame to me.

O Willie, come sell your fiddle,
  O sell your fiddle sae fine;
O Willie, come sell your fiddle,
  And buy a pint o' wine;
If I should sell my fiddle,
  The [warl']1 would think I was mad,
For mony a rantin day
  My fiddle and I hae had.

As I cam by Crochallan
  I cannily keekit ben,
Rattlin, roarin Willie
  Was sitting at yon [boord-en']2,
Sitting at yon [boord-en']2,
  And amang guid companie;
Rattlin, roarin Willie,
  Ye're welcome hame to me!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   F. Scott 

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Scott: "warld"
2 Scott: "board-en' "

Glossary
"blint" = blinded
"keekit ben" = peeped in
"boord-en'" = end of the table


Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Rattlin, Roarin Willie" [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 Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "Rattlin' Roarin' Willie", published 1939 [ low voice and piano ], from Scottish Lyrics, Book 5, no. 7, Bayley & Ferguson; confirmed with Songs of Francis George Scott, selected and edited by Neil Mackay, Roberton Publications, Aylesbury 1980, page 100. [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "Bänkelsänger Willie" ; composed by Ferdinand David, Robert Schumann.
      • Go to the text.

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 127

Bänkelsänger Willie
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG
  "O Bänkelsänger Willie!
Du ziehst zum Jahrmarkt aus;
Du willst deine Geige verkaufen;
O Willie, bleibe zu Haus!"
Doch wie man für die Geige
Schon blankes Silber ihm reicht,
Da wird dem armen Willie
Das Auge von Thränen feucht.
 
  "O Willie, verkauf' deine Geige,
Verkauf' mir die Geige fein!
O Willie, verkauf' deine Geige
Und kauf' dir ein Schöppchen Wein!"
Nein! nimmer verkauf' ich die Geige!
Mich träfe zu harter Schlag:
Ich hatte mit meiner Geige
Schon manchen glücklichen Tag.
 
  "Jüngst lugt' ich in der Schenke;
Sie saßen um den Tisch,
Und obenan saß Willie,
Und sang und geigte frisch.
Sie lauschten seinen Tönen;
Wie glühte jedes Gesicht! --
O Bänkelsänger Willie,
Verkauf deine Geige nicht!"

Confirmed with Robert Burns’ Gedichte, deutsch von W. Gerhard, Leipzig: Verlag von Joh. Ambr. Barth., 1840, pages 102-103


Text Authorship:

  • by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858), "Bänkelsänger Willie" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "Rattlin, Roarin Willie"
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Ferdinand David (1810 - 1873), "Bänkelsänger Willie", op. 27 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 6, published 1850 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Bänkelsänger Willie", op. posth. 146 (Romanzen und Balladen für Chor (Heft 4)) no. 2 (1849), published 1860 [ SATB chorus ], Elberfeld, Arnold [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Willie, el cantant de fira", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Kermiszanger Willie", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Ballad-monger Willie", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Dr. Gerrit den Hartogh , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2004-07-04
Line count: 24
Word count: 116

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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