When o'er the hill the eastern star
  Tells bughtin-time is near, my jo,
And owsen frae the furrowed field
  Return sae dowf and weary O:
Down by the burn where scented birks
  Wi' dew are hanging clear, my jo,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
  My ain kind Dearie O.

At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,
  I'd rove and ne'er be irie O,
If thro' that glen I gaed to thee,
  My ain kind Dearie O:
Altho' the night were ne'er sae [wet]1,
  And I were n'er sae weary O,
[I'd]2 meet thee on the lea-rig,
  My ain kind Dearie O.

The hunter lo'es the morning sun,
  To rouse the mountain deer, my jo,
At noon the fisher takes the glen,
  Adown the burn to steer, my jo;
Gie me the hour o' gloamin grey,
  It maks my heart sae cheary O
To meet thee on the lea-rig,
  My ain kind Dearie O.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
bughtin-time = the time of milking the ewes;
jo = sweetheart;
dowf = lethargic;
birks = birch trees;
lea-rig = grassy ridge, unploughed land;
irie = frightened;
gloamin = twilight
¹ in some editions: "wild"
² in some editions: "I'll"

Authorship

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "The lea-rig" [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 lea-rig", Hob. XXXIa:31bis, JHW XXXII/3 no. 152 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "My ain kind dearie O", published 1879 [ voice and piano ], London: Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) ; composed by Eusebius Mandyczewski.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901) [an adaptation] ; composed by Joseph Rheinberger.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Ty, moje potěšení"
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) ((Johann) Philipp Kaufmann) , no title [an adaptation]

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: 153

Když hlásí hvězda večerní,
   že čas je ku dojení
a voli domů z oranin
   se vrací unaveni:
tam v břizách vonných, zrosených,
   kde potůček se pění,
já potkávám tě na mezi,
   ty, moje potěšení.

Já tmavým lesem v půlnoci,
   když nikde hvězdy není,
tím lesem já bych k tobě šel
   ty, moje potěšení.
Ať sebe více unaven
   jsem po klopotě denní,
já vstříc bych šel ti po mezi,
   ty, moje potěšení.

Vychází lovec za srnou
   po prvním kuropění
a rybář s loďkou na řece
   vrš o polednách mění;
já na večer, když v soumraku
   se nebe zarumění,
rád potkám tebe na mezi
   ty, moje potěšení!