Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet

Robert Burns

“O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 257 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

O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet,

Mally's modest and discreet,

Mally's rare, Mally's fair,

Mally's every way complete.

As I was walking up the street,

A barefit maid I chanced to meet;

But O the road was very hard

For that fair maiden's tender feet.

Verse 2

It were mair meet that those fine feet

Were weel laced up in silken shoon,

And 'twere more fit that she should sit

Within yon chariot gilt aboon.

Verse 3

Her yellow hair, beyond compare,

Comes trinkling down her swan-white neck,

And her two eyes, like stars in skies,

Would keep a sinking ship frae wreck.

O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet,

Mally's modest and discreet,

Mally's rare, Mally's fair,

Mally's every way complete.

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), “O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet”

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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