Songs of Robert Burns/In Tarbolton, ye ken

Songs of Robert Burns ~ In Tarbolton, ye ken James C. Dick

No. 2. From "The Songs by Robert Burns". A Study in Tone-Poetry. Published by Henry Frowde. London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and New York 1903. Source «traditionalmusic»

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Page 1. TONE-POETRY OF ROBERT BURNS I. LOVE—PERSONAL

No. 2. In Tarbolton, ye ken.

(Tune unknown.)

* * * In Tarbolton, ye ken, there are proper young men,         And proper young lasses and a', man ; But ken ye the Ronalds that live in the Bennals ?         They carry the gree frae them a', man. Their father's a laird, and weel he can spare't,         Braid money to tocher them a', man; To proper young men, he'll clink in the hand         Gowd guineas a hunder or twa, man.

Page 2. TONE-POETRY OF ROBERT BURNS

* * * There's ane they ca' Jean, I'll warrant ye've seen         As bonie a lass or as braw, man ; But for sense and guid taste she'll vie wi' the best,         And a conduct that beautifies a', man. The charms o' the min', the langer they shine         The mair admiration they draw, man ; While peaches and cherries, and roses and lilies,         They fade and they wither awa, man. If ye be for Miss Jean, tak this frae a frien',         A hint o' a rival or twa, man; The Laird o' Blackbyre wad gang through the fire,         If that wad entice her awa, man. The Laird o' Braehead has been on his speed         For mair than a towmond or twa, man ; The Laird o' the Ford will straught on a board,         If he canna get her at a', man. Then Anna comes in, the pride o' her kin,         The boast of our bachelors a', man ; Sae sonsy and sweet, sae fully complete,         She steals our affections awa, man. If I should detail the pick and the wale         O' lasses that live here awa, man, The faut wad be mine, if they didna shine         The sweetest and best o' them a', man. I lo'e her mysel, but darena weel tell,         My poverty keeps me in awe, man, For making o' rhymes, and working at times,         Does little or naething at a', man. Yet I wadna choose to let her refuse,         Nor hae't in her power to say na, man ; For though I be poor, unnoticed, obscure,         My stomach's as proud as them a', man. Though I canna ride in weel-booted pride,         And flee o'er the hills like a craw, man, I can haud up my head wi' the best o' the breed,         Though fluttering ever so braw, man. My coat and my vest, they are Scotch o' the best;         O' pairs o' guid breeks I hae twa, man, And stockings and pumps to put on my stumps,         And ne'er a wrang steek in them a', man.

Page 3. I. LOVE : PERSONAL

* * * My sarks they are few, but five o' them new, Twal' hundred, as white as the snaw, man; A ten-shillings hat, a Holland cravat ; There are no mony poets sae braw, man. I never had friens weel stockit in means, To leave me a hundred or twa, man ; Nae weel-tocher'd aunts, to wait on their drants, And wish them in hell for it a', man. I never was cannie for hoarding o' money, Or claughtin't together at a', man, I've little to spend and naething to lend, But deevil a shilling I awe, man.

Page 351. HISTORICAL NOTES

I. LOVE-SONGS: PERSONAL.

No. 2. In Tarbolton, ye ken. Chambers's Burns, 1851; without title of tune. The farm of the Bennals named in the verses is situated near Afton Lodge, a few miles from Lochlea, where Burns probably lived at the time he celebrated the two daughters of Ronald, who was reputed to be a person of means and gave himself airs. Gilbert Burns, it is said, had wooed Jean, but was rejected on account of his poverty: Robert affected the other, Anna. In 1789 Ronald became a bankrupt, and Burns in conveying the news to his younger brother William did not conceal his feelings when he says, 'You will easily guess, that from his insolent vanity in his sunshine of life, he will now feel a little retaliation from those who thought themselves eclipsed by him; for, poor fellow, I do not think he ever intentionally injured any one.' The tune of the song is unknown.