Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

O this is no my ain Lassie

Robert Burns

“O this is no my ain Lassie” as printed in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 76 1850 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (First Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

O this is no my ain lassie,

Fair tho' the lassie be;

O weel ken I my ain lassie,

Kind love is in her e'e.

Verse 2

I see a form, I see a face,

Ye weel may wi' the fairest plaec;

It wants, to me, the witching grace,

The kind love that's in her e'e.

O this is no, &c.

Verse 3

She's bonny, blooming, straight, and tall,

And lang has had my heart in thrall;

And aye it charms my very saul,

The kind love that's in her e'e.

O this is no, &c.

Verse 4

A thief sae pawkie is my Jean,

To steal a blink by a' unseen:

But gleg as light are lovers' e'en,

When kind love is in the e'e.

O this is no, &c.

Verse 5

It may escape the courtly sparks,

It may escape the learned clerks;

But weel the watching lover marks

The kind love that's in her e'e.

O this is no, &c.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850), “O this is no my ain Lassie”

Every contribution in this 1850 anthology predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide.

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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