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Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 409: Braw Lads O’ Galla Water
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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.

Braw Lads O’ Galla Water

Braw, braw lads on Yarrow-braes, They rove amang the blooming heather; But Yarrow braes, nor Ettrick shaws Can match the lads o’ Galla Water. But there is ane, a secret ane, Aboon them a’ I loe him better; And I’ll be his, and he’ll be mine, The bonie lad o’ Galla Water. Altho’ his daddie was nae laird, And tho’ I hae nae meikle tocher, Yet rich in kindest, truest love, We’ll tent our flocks by Galla Water. It ne’er was wealth, it ne’er was wealth, That coft contentment, peace, or pleasure; The bands and bliss o’ mutual love, O that’s the chiefest warld’s treasure.