Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Blithe was she

Robert Burns

“Blithe was she” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 122 1887 · historical text
Public domainScottish songSong lyrics
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Chorus

Blithe, blithe and merry was she,

Blithe was she but and ben:

Blithe by the banks of Ern,

But blither in Glenturit glen.

Verse 2

By Ochtertyre grows the aik,

On Yarrow banks, the birken shaw;

But Phemie was a bonier lass

Than braes o' Yarrow ever saw.

Blithe, &c.

Verse 3

Her looks were like a flower in May,

Her smile was like a simmer morn;

She tripped by the banks of Ern

As light's a bird upon a thorn.

Blithe, &c.

Verse 4

Her bonie face it was as meek

As onie lamb's upon a lee;

The evening sun was ne'er sae sweet

As was the blink o' Phemie's ee.

Blithe, &c.

Verse 5

The Highland hills I've wander'd wide,

And o'er the Lowlands I hae been;

But Phemie was the blithest lass

That ever trod the dewy green.

Blithe, &c.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887), “Blithe was she”

Every text in this 1887 collected edition is by Robert Burns (1759-1796), who died more than 230 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination and a pre-1931 United States publication.

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 2026-10-25. 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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