Songs and lyrics of Robert Burns

Chapter 36: LASSIE WI’ THE LINT-WHITE LOCKS

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

A collected selection of the poet's songs and shorter lyrics presents his explorations of love, nature, rural Scottish life, patriotism, and social observation, often rendered in Scots dialect and intended for musical performance. The volume groups brief pieces alongside several longer poems, supplies a glossary of dialect terms and an index of first lines, and includes illustrative plates. Many lyrics evoke landscapes, domestic scenes, and communal gatherings, balancing tenderness and satire while varying tone from celebratory to elegiac. The arrangement favors lyrical vitality rather than strict chronology, offering readers both popular airs and more extended narrative poems within a single accessible anthology.

LASSIE WI’ THE LINT-WHITE LOCKS

Now nature cleeds the flowery lea,

And a’ is young and sweet like thee;

O wilt thou share its joys wi’ me,

And say thou’lt be my dearie O?

Lassie wi’ the lint-white locks,

Bonnie lassie, artless lassie,

Wilt thou wi’ me tent the flocks?

Wilt thou be my dearie O?

The primrose bank, the wimpling burn,

The cuckoo on the milk-white thorn,

The wanton lambs at early morn

Shall welcome thee, my dearie O.

And when the welcome simmer-shower

Has cheer’d ilk drooping little flower,

We’ll to the breathing woodbine bower

At sultry noon, my dearie O.

When Cynthia lights, wi’ silver ray,

The weary shearer’s hameward way,

Thro’ yellow waving fields we’ll stray,

And talk o’ love, my dearie O.

And when the howling wintry blast

Disturbs my lassie’s midnight rest;

Enclaspèd to my faithfu’ breast,

I’ll comfort thee, my dearie O.