Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Highland Widow's Lament

Robert Burns

“The Highland Widow's Lament” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 389 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

Oh! I am come to the low countrie,

Och-on, och-on, och-rie!

Without a penny in my purse,

To buy a meal to me.

Verse 2

It was nae sae in the Highland hills,

Och-on, och-on, och-rie!

Nae woman in the country wide

Sae happy was as me.

Verse 3

For then I had a score o' kye,

Och-on, och-on, och-rie!

Feeding on yon hills so high,

And giving milk to me.

Verse 4

And there I had three score o' yowes,

Och-on, och-on, och-rie!

Skipping on yon bonie knowes,

And casting woo' to me.

Verse 5

I was the happiest of the clan,

Sair, sair may I repine;

For Donald was the brawest lad,

And Donald he was mine.

Verse 6

Till Charlie Stewart cam at last,

Sae far to set us free;

My Donald's arm was wanted then,

For Scotland and for me.

Verse 7

Their waefu' fate what need I tell,

Right to the wrang did yield:

My Donald and his country fell

Upon Culloden's field.

Verse 8

Oh! I am come to the low countrie,

Och-on, och-on, och-rie!

Nae woman in the world wide

Sae wretched now as me.

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 Highland Widow's Lament”

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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