Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Banks o' Doon (1)

Robert Burns

“The Banks o' Doon (1)” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 350 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

Ye banks and braes o' bonie Doon,

How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair!

How can ye chant, ye little birds,

And I sae weary fu' o' care!

Thou'lt break my heart, thou warbling bird,

That wantons thro' the flowering thorn:

Thou minds me o' departed joys,

Departed—never to return.

Verse 2

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonie bird,

That sings beside thy mate;

For sae I sat, and sae I sang,

And wist na o' my fate.

Aft hae I rov'd by bonie Doon,

To see the rose and woodbine twine;

And ilka bird sang o' its luve,

And sae did I o' mine.

Verse 3

Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose,

Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree;

And my fause luver staw my rose,

But ah! he left the thorn wi' me.

Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose

Upon a morn in June;

And sae I flourish'd on the morn,

And sae was pu'd on noon.

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), “The Banks o' Doon (1)”

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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