by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Hark! the mavis' evening sang
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: FRE
Hark! the mavis' evening sang
Sounding Clouden's woods amang,
Then a-faulding let us gang,
My bonnie dearie.
Ca' the [yowes]1 to the knowes,
Ca' them where the heather grows,
Ca' them where the [burnie]2 rows,
My bonnie dearie.
We'll gae down by Clouden side,
Through the hazels, spreading wide
O'er the waves that sweetly glide
To the moon sae clearly.
Ca' the [yowes]1 etc.
Yonder Clouden's silent towers,
Where at moonshine midnight hours
O'er the dewy bending flowers
Fairies dance sae cheery.
Ca' the [yowes]1 etc.
Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear;
Thou'rt to Love and Heaven sae dear,
Nocht of ill may come thee near,
My bonnie dearie.
Ca' the [yowes]1 etc.
Fair and lovely as thou art,
Thou hast stown my very heart;
I can die -- but canna part,
My bonnie dearie.
Ca' the [yowes]1 etc.
While waters wimple to the sea;
While day blinks in the lift sae hie;
Till clay-cauld death shall blin' my e'e,
Ye shall be my dearie.
Ca' the [yowes]1 etc.
J. Haydn sets stanzas 1, 4-5
M. Johnson sets stanzas 1-2, 5
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)GLOSSARY
mavis' = thrush
faulding = to shut sheep in the fold
knowes = Small round hillocks
bogle = hobgoblin
stown = stolen
2 Haydn: "burn"
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), title 1: "Hark! the mavis", title 2: "Ca' the yowes to the knowes" [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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "The maid that tends the goats", Hob. XXXIa:221bis, JHW XXXII/3 no. 211, stanzas 1,4-5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maurice Johnson , "Ca' the yowes", stanzas 1-2,5, arrangement [sung text checked 1 time]
Set in a modified version by Benjamin Britten, John Linton Gardner, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Konrad Wilhelm Adolf Laun (1808 - 1881) , no title, appears in Lieder und Balladen von Robert Burns ; composed by Ernst II, Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, as S. Herzog.
Other 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 text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 33
Word count: 164