Robert Tannahill: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Langsyne, beside

Robert Tannahill

“Langsyne, beside” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Robert Tannahill: Collected Lyrics Text 5 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Langsyne, beside the woodland burn,

Amang the broom sae yellow,

I lean'd me 'neath the milkwhite thorn,

On nature's mossy pillow;

A' 'round my seat the flowers were strew'd,

That frae the wildwood I had pu'd,

To weave mysel' a simmer snood,

To pleasure my dear fellow.

I twined the woodbine round the rose,

Its richer hues to mellow,

Green sprigs of fragrant birk I chose,

To busk the sedge sae yellow.

The craw-flower blue, and meadow-pink,

I wove in primrose-braided link,

But little, little did I think,

I should have wove the willow.

My bonnie lad was forced afar,

Toss'd on the raging billow,

Perhaps he's fa'n in bluidy war,

Or wreck'd on rocky shallow;

Yet aye I hope for his return,

As round our wonted haunts I mourn,

And aften by the woodland burn,

I pu' the weeping willow.

Credits

Written by Robert Tannahill

Words by Robert Tannahill. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “Langsyne, beside”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

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 2026-10-12. 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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