Robert Burns and William Reid: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Of a' the airts the wind can blaw

Robert Burns and William Reid

“Of a' the airts the wind can blaw” as printed in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850).

Robert Burns and William Reid: Collected Lyrics Text 2 1850 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (First Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Of a' the airts the wind can blaw,

I dearly lo'e the west;

For there the bonnie lassie lives,

The lassie I lo'e best.

Tho' wild woods grow, and rivers row,

Wi' mony a hill between,

By day and night my fancy's flight

Is ever wi' my Jean.

Verse 2

I see her in the dewy flow'r,

Sae lovely, sweet, and fair;

I hear her voice in ilka bird,

Wi' music charm the air;

There's not a bonnie flow'r that springs,

By fountain, shaw, or green,

Nor yet a bonnie bird that sings,

But minds me e' my Jean.

Verse 3

O blaw, ye westlin winds, blaw saft

A mang the leafy trees;

Wi' gentle breath frae muir an' dale,

Bring hame the laden bees;

An' bring the lassie back to me,

That's aye sae neat and clean;

Ae blink o her wad banish care,

Sae charming is my Jean.

Verse 4

What sighs and vows, amang the knowes,

Hae past between us twa!

How fain to meet, how wae to part,

That day she gaed awa!

The powers aboon can only ken,

To whom the heart is seen,

That nane can be sae dear to me,

As my sweet lovely Jean.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns and William Reid

Words by Robert Burns and William Reid. Historical text published in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850), “Of a' the airts the wind can blaw”

Every contribution in this 1850 anthology predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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