Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Hey for a lass

Robert Burns

“Hey for a lass” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 40 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Awa' wi' your witchcraft o' beauty's alarms,

The slender bit beauty you grasp in your arms;

O, gi'e me the lass that has acres o' charms,

O, gi'e me the lass wi' the weel-stockit farms!

Then, hey for a lass wi' a tocher,

Then, hey for a lass wi' a tocher,

Then, hey for a lass wi' a tocher!

The nice yellow guineas for me!

Your beauty's a flower in the morning that blows,

And withers the faster, the faster it grows;

But the rapturous charms o' the bonnie green knowes,

Ilk spring they're new-deckit wi' bonnie white ewes.

And e'en when this beauty your bosom has bless'd,

The brightest o' beauty may cloy when possess'd;

But the sweet yellow darlings, wi' Geordie imprest,

The langer ye ha'e them, the mair they're carest.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “Hey for a lass”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

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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