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Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 202: Theniel Menzies’ Bonie Mary
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About This Book

The collection assembles lyrical songs, narrative poems, satirical pieces, epistles, epitaphs, and fragments that shift between convivial drinking verses, tender laments, and comic storytelling. Many lyrics were shaped to traditional airs and preserve vernacular speech, while longer works portray rural labor, domestic scenes, and compassionate encounters with animals. Satire targets religious hypocrisy and social pretension, and several poems take a direct, personal tone of moral reflection or affectionate address. The selections alternate moods and forms, emphasizing melodic phrasing and a versatile technical range.

Theniel Menzies’ Bonie Mary

Air—“The Ruffian’s Rant,” or “Roy’s Wife.”
In comin by the brig o’ Dye, At Darlet we a blink did tarry; As day was dawnin in the sky, We drank a health to bonie Mary. Chorus.—Theniel Menzies’ bonie Mary, Theniel Menzies’ bonie Mary, Charlie Grigor tint his plaidie, Kissin’ Theniel’s bonie Mary. Her een sae bright, her brow sae white, Her haffet locks as brown’s a berry; And aye they dimpl’t wi’ a smile, The rosy cheeks o’ bonie Mary. Theniel Menzies’ bonie Mary, &c. We lap a’ danc’d the lee-lang day, Till piper lads were wae and weary; But Charlie gat the spring to pay For kissin Theniel’s bonie Mary. Theniel Menzies’ bonie Mary, &c.