Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Gude Ale Comes

Robert Burns

“Gude Ale Comes” as printed in The Black-Bird Songster (1840).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 521 1840 · historical text
Public domainScottish songSongster
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Black-Bird Songster, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

O gudo ale comes, and gude ale goes;

Gude ale gars me sell my hose,

Sell my hoso, and pawn my shoon;

Gudo ale keeps my heart aboon.

Verse 2

I had sax oxen in a pleuch,

And they drew teuch and weel oneuch;

I drank them a' just ane by ane;

Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.

Verse 3

I had forty shillings in a clout,

Gude ale gart me pyke them out;

That gear should moul' I thought a sin;

Gudo ale keeps my heart aboon.

Verse 4

Gude ale hauds me bare and busy,

Gars me moop wi' the servant hizzie,

Stand i' the stool, when I hao done;

Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.

Verse 5

O gude ale comes, and gude ale goes:

Gudo sle gars me sell my hose,

Sell my hose, and pawn my shoon;

Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Black-Bird Songster (1840); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Black-Bird Songster (1840), “Gude Ale Comes”

Every contribution in this 1840 songster predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

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 2026-10-26. 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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