Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Whistle owre the Lave o't

Robert Burns

“Whistle owre the Lave o't” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 501 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

First when Maggy was my care,

Heaven, I thought, was in her air;

Now we're married—spier nae mair—

Whistle owre the lave o't.

Verse 2

Meg was meek, and Meg was mild,

Bonie Meg was nature's child—

Wiser men than me's beguil'd;—

Whistle owre the lave o't.

Verse 3

How we live, my Meg and me,

How we love and how we 'gree,

I care na by how few may see—

Whistle owre the lave o't.

Verse 4

Wha I wish were maggots' meat,

Dish'd up in her winding sheet,

I could write—but Meg maun see't—

Whistle owre the lave o't.

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), “Whistle owre the Lave o't”

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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