Logan Water
Scottish Song By Robert Burns
Logan Water (often referred to as Logan Braes) is the title of a Scots ballad written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1793. It was composed to accompany the tune "Logan Water" and was later published in "The Book of Scottish Song" (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw.The following are Burns's words to the tune of Logan Water. They were written four years after the appearance of Mayne's song, and sent to Thomson's collection. Burns was ignorant of Mayne's production at the time, but had heard the burthen of it,-
Far, far frae me and Logan braes,-
and adopted the lines as a fragment of an old song.
Burns to Thomson - June 25th 1793.
Have you ever, my dear Sir, felt your bosom ready to burst with indignation on reading of those mighty villains who divide kingdom against kingdom, desolate provinces, and lay nations waste, out of the wantonness of ambition, or often from still more ignoble passions? In a mood of this kind to-day I recollected the air of "Logan Water;" and it occurred to me that its querulous melody probably had its origin from the plaintive indignation of some swelling, suffering heart, fired at the tyrannic strides of some public destroyer, and overwhelmed with private distress, the consequence of a country's ruin. If I have done anything at all like justice to my feelings, the following song, composed in three quarters of an hour's meditation in my elbow-chair, ought to have some merit.
The poet had in mind, too, during this poetic fit, the beautiful song of Logan-braes, by my friend John Mayne, a Nithsdale poet.
Also see Logan Braes - Song written by John Mayne in 1789.
Related Scottish Country Dances
Logan BraesLogan Water By Robert Burns
That day I was my Willie's bride;
And years sinsyne ha'e ower us run,
Like Logan to the summer sun:
But now thy flowery banks appear
Like drumlie winter, dark and drear,
While my dear lad maun face his faes,
Far, far frae me and Logan braes.
Again the merry month of May
Has made our hills and valleys gay;
The birds rejoice in leafy bowers,
The bees hum round the breathing flowers:
Blythe morning lifts his rosy eye,
And evening tears are tears of joy:
My soul, delightless, a' surveys,
While Willie's far frae Logan braes.
Within yon milk-white hawthorn bush,
Amang her nestlings sits the thrush;
Her faithfu' mate will share her toil,
Or wi' his sang her cares beguile:
But I, wi' my sweet nurslings here,
Nae mate to help, nae mate to cheer,
Pass widow'd nights and joyless days,
While Willie's far frae Logan braes.
O, wae upon you, men o' state,
That brethren rouse to deadly hate!
As ye make many a fond heart mourn,
Sae may it on your heads return!
How can your flinty hearts enjoy
The widows tears, the orphan's cry?
But soon may peace bring happy days,
And Willie hame to Logan braes!
Logan Water Song Video
Logan Water Song - Information Video
Logan Braes, From Glen Collection Of Printed Music, British Minstrel, And Musical And Literary Miscellany Page 273, c. 1843-1845
The Online Scots Dictionary Translate Scots To English.
Dance information licensed, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.
Text from this original The Book Of Scottish Song/Logan Water article on Wikisource.
Text from this original 9863 article on gutenberg.org.
Image from National Library Of Scotland, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.