LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,026)
  • Text Authors (19,309)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,112)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Up and warn a' Willie
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
To hear my cantie Highland sang,
  Relate the thing I saw, Willie. -

When we gaed to the braes o' Mar,
  And to the wapon-shaw, Willie,
Wi' true design to serve the king
  And banish whigs awa, Willie. -
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
For Lords and lairds came there bedeen
  And wow but they were braw, Willie. -

But when the standard was set up
  Right fierce the wind did blaw, Willie;
The royal nit upon the tap
  Down to the ground did fa', Willie.
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
Then second-sighted Sandie said
  We'd do nae gude at a', Willie. -

But when the army join'd at Perth,
  The bravest ere ye saw, Willie,
We didna doubt the rogues to rout,
  Restore our king and a', Willie.
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
The pipers play'd frae right to left
  O whirry whigs awa, Willie. -

But when we march'd to Sherramuir
  And there the rebels saw, Willie;
Brave Argyle attack'd our right,
  Our flank and front and a', Willie. -
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
Traitor Huntly soon gave way
  Seaforth, St Clair and a' Willie. -

But brave Glengary on our right,
  The rebel's left did claw, Willie,
He there the greatest slaughter made
  That ever Donald saw, Willie. -
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
And Whittam sh-t his breeks for fear
  And fast did rin awa', Willie. -

For he ca'd us a Highland mob
  And soon he'd slay us a', Willie;
But we chas'd him back to Stirling brig
  Dragoons and foot and a', Willie. -
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
At length we rallied on a hill
  And briskly up did draw, Willie. -

But when Argyle did view our line,
  And them in order saw, Willie,
He streight gaed to Dumblane again
  And back his left did draw, Willie. -
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
Then we to Auchterairder march'd
  To wait a better fa' Willie. -

Now if ye spier wha wan the day,
  I've tell'd you what I saw, Willie,
We baith did fight and baith did beat
  And baith did rin awa, Willie.
Up and warn a' Willie,
  Warn, warn a';
For second sighted Sandie said
  We'd do nae gude at a', Willie.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 68
Word count: 389

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris