Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Now westlin Winds

Robert Burns

“Now westlin Winds” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 249 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

Now westlin winds, and slaught'ring guns

Bring autumn's pleasant weather;

The moorcock springs, on whirring wings,

Amang the blooming heather:

Now waving grain, wide o'er the plain,

Delights the weary farmer;

And the moon shines bright, when I rove at night

To muse upon my charmer.

Verse 2

The partridge loves the fruitful fells;

The plover loves the mountains;

The woodcock haunts the lonely dells;

The soaring hern the fountains:

Thro' lofty groves the cushat roves,

The path of man to shun it;

The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush,

The spreading thorn the linnet.

Verse 3

Thus ev'ry kind their pleasure find,

The savage and the tender;

Some social join, and leagues combine;

Some solitary wander;

Avaunt, away! the cruel sway,

Tyrannic man's dominion;

The sportsman's joy, the murd'ring cry,

The flutt'ring, gory pinion!

Verse 4

But, Peggy dear, the ev'ning's clear,

Thick flies the skimming swallow;

The sky is blue, the fields in view,

All fading-green and yellow:

Come let us stray our gladsome way,

And view the charms of nature;

The rustling corn, the fruited thorn,

And ev'ry happy creature.

Verse 5

We'll gently walk, and sweetly talk,

Till the silent moon shine clearly;

I'll grasp thy waist, and, fondly prest,

Swear how I love thee dearly:

Not vernal show'rs to budding flow'rs,

Not autumn to the farmer,

So dear can be, as thou to me,

My fair, my lovely charmer!

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), “Now westlin Winds”

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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