Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The bonie Lass of Albany

Robert Burns

“The bonie Lass of Albany” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 424 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

My heart is wae, and unco wae,

To think upon the raging sea,

That roars between her gardens green

And the bonie Lass of Albany.

Verse 2

This lovely maid's of royal blood

That rulèd Albion's kingdoms three,

But oh, alas, for her bonie face,

They hae wrang'd the Lass of Albany.

Verse 3

In the rolling tide of spreading Clyde

There sits an isle of high degree,

And a town of fame whose princely name

Should grace the Lass of Albany.

Verse 4

But there's a youth, a witless youth,

That fills the place where she should be;

We'll send him o'er to his native shore,

And bring our ain sweet Albany.

Verse 5

Alas the day, and wo the day,

A false usurper wan the gree,

Who now commands the towers and lands—

The royal right of Albany.

Verse 6

We'll daily pray, we'll nightly pray,

On bended knees most ferventlie,

The time may come, with pipe and drum

We'll welcome hame fair Albany.

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 bonie Lass of Albany”

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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