Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

My Tocher's The Jewel

Scottish Poem By Robert Burns

My Tocher's The Jewel is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1791, published in James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, Volume IV, song 312.

The tune, also titled "My Tocher's The Jewel", is attributed to Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831), the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces.


Related Scottish Country Dances

My Tocher's The Jewel

My Tocher's The Jewel By Robert Burns

O Meikle thinks my luve o' my beauty,
And meikle thinks my luve o' my kin;
But little thinks my luve I ken brawlie,
My tocher's the jewel has charms for him.
It's a' for the apple he'll nourish the tree,
It's a' for the hinny he'll cherish the bee,
My laddie's sae meikle in luve wi' the siller,
He canna hae luve to spare for me.

Your proffer o' luve's an airle-penny,
My tocher's the bargain ye wad buy;
But an ye be crafty, I am cunnin',
Sae ye wi anither your fortune maun try.
Ye're like to the timmer o' yon rotten wood,
Ye're like to the bark o' yon rotten tree,
Ye'll slip frae me like a knotless thread,
And ye'll crack your credit wi' mae nor me.


My Tocher's The Jewel Song Video

My Tocher's The Jewel Song - Information Video
Scots Musical Museum
Frontispage Of Burns, The Scots Musical Museum c. 1787


The Online Scots Dictionary Translate Scots To English.
Published in https://www.robertburns.org/works/my-tocher-s-the-jewel/
Published in http://www.robertburnsfederation.com/poems/translations/my_tochers_the_jewel.htm (with translation).
This page uses content under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, along with original copyrighted content and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources.
Text from this original Scots Musical Museum article on Wikisource.
Image from Robert Burns, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Back to the top of this 'My Tocher's The Jewel Poem' page