Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

My Lady's Gown

Traditional

“My Lady's Gown” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 272 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

My lady's gown there's gairs upon't,

And gowden springs sae rare upon't;

But Jennie's jimps and jerkinet,

My lord thinks meikle mair upon't.

My lord a-hunting he is gane;

But hounds and hawks wi' him are nane;

By Colin's cottage lies his game,

If Colin's Jennie be at hame.

My lady's white, my lady's red,

And kith and kin o' Cassilis' blude;

But her ten-pund lands o' tocher gude

Were a' the charms his lordship lo'ed.

Out ower yon muir, out ower yon moss,

Where gor-cocks throush the heather pass,

There wons auld Colin's bonnie lass,

A lily in a wilderness.

Sae sweetly move her genty limbs,

Like music-notes o' lovers' hymns;

The diamond-dew in her een sae blue,

Where laughing love sae wanton swims.

My lady's dink, my lady's dress'd,

The flower and fancy o' the west;

But the lassie thrtt a man lo'es best,

O, that's the lass to mak' him blest.

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, “My Lady's Gown”

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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