Robert Tannahill: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

O, are ye sleepin' Maggie

Robert Tannahill

“O, are ye sleepin' Maggie” as printed in The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series) (1851).

Robert Tannahill: Collected Lyrics Text 10 1851 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

O are ye sleepin' Maggie?

O are ye sleepin' Maggie?

Let me in, for loud the linn

Is roaring o'er the warlock craigie.

Verse 2

Mirk and rainy is the night,

No a star in a' the carry;

Lightnings gleam athwart the lift,

And winds drive on wi' winter's fury.

O are ye sleepin', &c.

Verse 3

Fearfu' soughs the boor-tree bank,

The rifted wood roars wild and drearie,

Loud the iron yett does clank,

And cry o' howlets mak's me eerie.

O are ye sleepin', &c.

Verse 4

Aboon my breath I daurna speak,

For fear I rouse your waukrife daddy;

Cauld's the blast upon my cheek;

O rise, rise, my bonnie lady!

O are ye sleepin, &c.

Verse 5

She oped the door, she let him in,

He cuist aside his dreeping plaidio;

Blaw your warst, ye rain and win',

Since, Maggie, now I'm in aside ye.

Verse 6

Now since ye're waukin' Maggie,

Now since ye're waukin' Maggie!

What care I for howlet's cry,

For boor-tree bank, or warlock craigie?

Credits

Written by Robert Tannahill

Words by Robert Tannahill. Historical text published in The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series) (1851); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series) (1851), “O, are ye sleepin' Maggie”

Every contribution in this 1851 anthology predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide.

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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