O chut! Mon doux petit Donald

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.

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Translation © by David K. Smythe

The Highland Balou

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: ENG FRE GER

Hee Balou, my sweet wee Donald,
Picture o' the great Clanronald!
Brawlie kens our wanton Chief
What gat my young Highland thief.
(Hee Balou!)

Leeze me on thy bonnie craigie!
And thou live, thou'll steal a naigie,
Travel the country thro' and thro' ,
and bring hame a Carlisle cow!

Thro' the Lawlands, o'er the Border,
Weel, my babie, may thou furder!
Herry the louns o' the laigh Countrie,
Syne to the Highlands hame to me!

Text Authorship:

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) [author's text not yet checked 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The Highland Balou", op. 41 no. 2, from A Charm of Lullabies, no. 2 [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) , "Hochländisches Wiegenlied" ; composed by Heinrich von Sahr, Robert Schumann.

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

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Ukolébavka"
ENG English (David K. Smythe) , "The Highland lullaby", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (David K. Smythe) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Wiegenlied aus den schottischen Highlands", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 76

O chut! Mon doux petit Donald

Language: French (Français) after the Scottish (Scots)

O chut! Mon doux petit Donald
Emblème du grand clan Ronald!
Parfaitement enseigné par notre capricieux Chef
Qui a engendré mon jeune voleur des Hautes-Terres
(O chut!)

Cher à moi est ton beau cou!
Si tu survis, tu vas voler un cheval,
Voyager dans le pays en tous sens,
Et rapporter chez nous une vache de Carlisle!

À travers les Basses-Terres, en passant la frontière,
Que bien, mon petit, tu prospères!
Harcèle les gars du bas pays,
Après, aux Hautes-Terres jusque chez moi!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from Scottish (Scots) to French (Français) copyright © 2005 by David K. Smythe, (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)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2005-04-27
Line count: 13
Word count: 83