by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
In simmer when the hay was mawn
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Available translation(s): FRE
In simmer when the hay was mawn, And corn wav'd green on ilka field, While claver blooms white o'er the lea, And roses blaw in ilka bield Blythe Bessie in the milking shield Says, I'll be wed come o't what will: Out spak a dame in wrinkled eild, O' gude advisement comes nae ill. Its ye ha'e wooers mony ane, And, lassie, ye're but young, ye ken, Then wait a wee, and cannie wale A routhie butt, a routhie ben. There's Johnie o' the Buskie-glen, Fu' is his barn, fu' is his byre. Tak this frae me, my bonnie hen, Its plenty heets the luver's fire : " For Johnie o' the Buskie-Glen I dinua care a single flie : He lo'es sae weel his craps and kye, He has nae love to spare for me. But blythe 's the blink o' Robie's e'e, And weel I wat he lo'es me dear: Ae blink o' him I wad na gie For Buskie-Glen and a' his gear." " O thoughtless lassie, life 's a faught ! The canniest gate, the strife is sair. But ay fu'-han't is fechtin best: A hungry care 's an unco care. But some will spend, and some will spare, An' wilfu' folk maun hae their will. Syne as ye brew, my maiden fair. Keep mind that ye maun drink the yill !" O! gear will buy me rigs o' land, And gear will buy me sheep and kye; But the tender heart o' leesome loove, The gowd and siller canna buy. We may be poor, Robie and I, Light is the burden loove lays on; Content and loove brings peace and joy; What mair hae queens upon a throne?
J. Haydn sets stanzas 1-2, 5
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 241.
Lea = untilled ground, pasture
Bield = sheltered yard
Shield = shed
Eild = old age
Ken = know
Cannie wale = wait a while, and choose carefully
Routhie ben = a well-furnished house with two rooms, an outer
room or kitchen (butt) and an inner sitting room or
parlour (ben)
Gear = wealth, money
Kye = cows
Leesome = agreeable
Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "In simmer when the hay was mawn" [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), "A country lassie", Hob. XXXIa no. 144, JHW. XXXII/2 no. 144, stanzas 1-2,5. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title unknown, copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2013-03-25
Line count: 40
Word count: 283