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by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

The happy trio
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Our translations:  FRE
O Willie brew'd a peck o' maut,
  And Rob and Allan cam to see;
Three blyther hearts, that lee lang night,
  Ye wad na found in Christendie.

         Chorus:
We are na fou, we're [nae]1 that fou,
  But just a drappie in our e'e;
The cock may craw, the day may daw,
  And ay we'll taste the barley bree.

Here are we met, three merry boys,
  Three merry boys I trow are we;
And mony a night we've merry been,
  And mony mae we hope to be!
    We are na fou, we're nae that fou...

It is the moon, I ken her horn,
  That 's blinkin in the lift sae hie;
She shines sae bright to wyle us hame,
  But by my sooth she'll wait a wee!
    We are na fou, we're nae that fou...

Wha first shall rise to gang awa,
  A cuckold, coward loun is he!
Wha first beside his chair shall fa',
  He is the king amang us three!
    We are na fou, we're nae that fou...

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   J. Haydn 

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Haydn: "no"
Glossary

Maut = dry measure of malt
Lee lang = live-long
We are na fou = we are not drunk
Drappy = little drop
Bree = ale
Lift = sky
Wyle = entice
Loun = ragamuffin

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):

  • by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "The happy trio", Hob. XXXIa:243, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 260 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Veselá trojice"
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le joyeux trio", copyright © 2019, (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: 24
Word count: 170

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