Traditional Scottish Songs
- Ye Banks and Braes

Here is a song by Robert Burns in one of his more soulful moods as he describes a love-lost girl as she wanders by the banks of the river Doon in Ayrshire.

You can download an MP3 version of this song from Margaret Donaldson's Web site.


Ye Banks and Braes

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,

How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary, fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro' the flowering thorn!
Thou minds me o' departed joys,
Departed, never to return.

Aft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon

To see the rose and woodbine twine;
And ilka bird sang o' its luve,
And fondly sae did I o' mine;
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree!
And my fause luver stole my rose -
But, ah! he left the thorn wi' me.

Meaning of unusual words:
braes=hillsides
ilka=every

Return to the Index of Traditional Scottish Songs



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