The Blue Eyed Lassie
Scottish Poem By Robert Burns
The Blue Eyed Lassie was written by Robert Burns in 1789 and among very many other publications titled "I Gaed A Waefu' Gate Yestreen" was published in Dainty Davie (1823) under the title "The Blue Eyed Lassie" and set to an air by Robert Riddle.Alexander Whitelaw, in The Book of Scottish Song (1843), writes: 'Written by Burns in 1789 for the Museum. The subject of the song was a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Jeffrey of Lochmaben, now Mrs. Renwick of New York. The air was composed by Robert Riddle of Glenriddle, Esq., and called "The blue-eyed lassie."'
Related Scottish Country Dances
The Blue Eyed LassieThe Blue Eyed Lassie By Robert Burns
I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen,
A gate I fear I'll dearly rue;
I gat my death frae twa sweet een,
Twa lovely een o' bonny blue.
'Twas not her golden ringlets bright,
Her lips like roses wat wi' dew,
Her heaving bosom lily white;-
It was her een sae bonny blue.
She talk'd, she smil'd, my heart she wyl'd
She charm'd my said I wist na how;
And ay the stound, the deadly wound,
Cam frae her een sae bonnie blue.
But spare to speak, and spare to speed,
She'll aiblins listen to my vow:
Should she refuse I'll lay my dead
To her twa een sae bonnie blue.
A gate I fear I'll dearly rue;
I gat my death frae twa sweet een,
Twa lovely een o' bonny blue.
'Twas not her golden ringlets bright,
Her lips like roses wat wi' dew,
Her heaving bosom lily white;-
It was her een sae bonny blue.
She talk'd, she smil'd, my heart she wyl'd
She charm'd my said I wist na how;
And ay the stound, the deadly wound,
Cam frae her een sae bonnie blue.
But spare to speak, and spare to speed,
She'll aiblins listen to my vow:
Should she refuse I'll lay my dead
To her twa een sae bonnie blue.
The Blue Eyed Lassie Song Video
The Blue Eyed Lassie Song - Information Video
The Blue-Eyed Lassie, From Glen Collection Of Printed Music, Scots Musical Museum, Volume 3, Page 304, c. 1790
The Online Scots Dictionary Translate Scots To English.
Published in http://www.robertburnsfederation.com/poems/translations/457.htm (with translation).
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original The Book of Scottish Song/I gaed a waefu' gate article on Wikisource.
Text from this original Dainty Davie 1823 - The Blue Eyed Lassie article on Wikisource.
Image copyright (cropped) https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/87796374 under this Creative Commons Licence 4.0.