The white cockade (Burns, set by J. Haydn) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


A Highland lad my love was born,
The Lalland laws he held in scorn;
But he still was faithfu' to his clan,
My gallant, braw John Highlandman.
Sing hey my braw John Highlandman!
Sing ho my braw John Highlandman!
There's not a lad in a' the lan'
Was match for my John Highlandman.

With his philibeg an' tartan plaid,
An' guid claymore down by his side,
The ladies' hearts he did trepan,
My gallant, braw John Highlandman.
Sing hey, &c.

We ranged a' from Tweed to Spey,
An' liv'd like lords an' ladies gay;
For a Lalland face he feared none, -
My gallant, braw John Highlandman.
Sing hey, &c.

They banish'd him beyond the sea.
But ere the bud was on the tree,
Adown my cheeks the pearls ran,
Embracing my John Highlandman.
Sing hey, &c.

But, och! they catch'd him at the last,
And bound him in a dungeon fast:
My curse upon them every one,
They've hang'd my braw John Highlandman!
Sing hey, &c.

And now a widow, I must mourn
[The pleasures that will]¹ ne'er return:
[The]² comfort but a hearty can,
When I think on John Highlandman.
Sing hey, &c.

View text without footnotes
sup>1 Haydn: "Departed joys that"
² Haydn: "No"
Glossary:
Braw = fine, handsome

Authorship

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

(Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Set in German, a translation of Wilhelm Gerhard GER

Robert Alexander Schumann (1810-1856)

Fünf Lieder nach Robert Burns für gemischten Chor

Date added to the website: 2004-06-30.

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