Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
274 / 519
Public-domain lyrics

On Cessnock Banks

Robert Burns

“On Cessnock Banks” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 274 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

On Cessnock banks a lassie dwells;

Could I describe her shape and mien;

Our lasses a' she far excels,

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 2

She's sweeter than the morning dawn

When rising Phoebus first is seen,

And dew-drops twinkle o'er the lawn;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 3

She's stately like yon youthful ash

That grows the cowslip braes between,

And drinks the stream with vigour fresh;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 4

She's spotless like the flow'ring thorn

With flow'rs so white and leaves so green,

When purest in the dewy morn;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 5

Her looks are like the vernal May,

When ev'ning Phœbus shines serene,

While birds rejoice on every spray;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 6

Her hair is like the curling mist

That climbs the mountain-sides at e'en,

When flow'r-reviving rains are past;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 7

Her forehead's like the show'ry bow,

When gleaming sunbeams intervene

And gild the distant mountain's brow;

An' she has twa sparkling roguish een.

Verse 8

Her cheeks are like yon crimson gem,

The pride of all the flowery scene,

Just opening on its thorny stem;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 9

Her teeth are like the nightly snow

When pale the morning rises keen,

While hid the murmuring streamlets flow;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 10

Her lips are like yon cherries ripe,

That sunny walls from Boreas screen,

They tempt the taste and charm the sight;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 11

Her teeth are like a flock of sheep,

With fleeces newly washen clean,

That slowly mount the rising steep;

An' she's twa glancin' sparklin' een.

Verse 12

Her breath is like the fragrant breeze

That gently stirs the blossom'd bean,

When Phœbus sinks behind the seas;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 13

Her voice is like the ev'ning thrush

That sings on Cessnock banks unseen,

While his mate sits nestling in the bush;

An' she has twa sparkling rogueish een.

Verse 14

But it's not her air, her form, her face,

Tho' matching beauty's fabled queen,

'Tis the mind that shines in ev'ry grace,

An' chiefly in her rogueish een.

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), “On Cessnock Banks”

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.
Keep tracing

More from Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics.

01A Rose-budPublic-domain lyrics02A red, red RosePublic-domain lyrics03Address to a LadyPublic-domain lyrics04AdieuPublic-domain lyrics