Traditional Scottish Songs
- A Rose-Bud By My Early Walk

This Robert Burns song, written in 1787, was dedicated to a Miss Jean Cruickshank who was the daughter of the Latin master at the High School of Edinburgh. Jean was only 12 years old when Burns wrote this but she was an accomplished singer who performed Burns' songs while accompanying herself on the piano.


A Rose-Bud By My Early Walk

A rose-bud, by my early walk
Adown a corn-enclosèd bawk,
Sae gently bent its thorny stalk,
All on a dewy morning.
Ere twice the shades o' dawn are fled,
In a' its crimson glory spread,
And drooping rich the dewy head,
It scents the early morning.

Within the bush her covert nest
A little linnet fondly prest;
The dew sat chilly on her breast,
Sae early in the morning.
She soon shall see her tender brood,
The pride, the pleasure o' the wood,
Amang the fresh green leaves bedew'd,
Awauk the early morning.

So thou, dear bird, young Jeany fair,
On trembling string or vocal air,
Shall sweetly pay the tender care
That tents thy early morning!
So thou, sweet rose-bud, young and gay,
Shalt beauteous blaze upon the day,
And bless the parent's evening ray
That watch'd thy early morning!

Meaning of unusual words:
bawk=footpath
awauk=awake
tents=guards

Return to the Index of Traditional Scottish Songs



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