Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Fair Eliza

Traditional

“Fair Eliza” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 105 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

Turn again, thou fair Eliza!

Ae kind blink before we part,

Rue on thy despairing lover!

Canst thou break his faithfu' heart?

Turn again, thou fair Eliza!

If to love thy heart denies,

For pity, hide the cruel sentence

Under friendship's kind disguise!

Thee, dear maid, ha'e I offended?

The offence is loving thee:

Canst thou wreck his peace for ever,

Wha for thine wad gladly die?

While the life beats in my bosom,

Thou Shalt mix in ilka thoe:

Turn again, thou lovely maiden,

Ae sweet smile on me bestow.

Not the bee upon the blossom,

In the pride of sunny noon;

Not the little sporting fairy,

All beneath the simmer moon;

Not the poet in the moment

Fancy lightens in his e'e,

Kens the pleasure, feels the rapture,

That thy presence gi'es to me.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. 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, “Fair Eliza”

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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