Traditional Scottish Songs
- Mary Morison

There was a Mary Morison who lived in Mauchline at the time of Burns (her grave is is in Mauchline Kirkyard). But Burns said it was written in 1784/85, when she would have been only 14, so it is more likely that the name was invented by Burns to fit the metre.


Mary Morison

O Mary, at thy window be!
It is the wish'd, the trysted hour.
Those smiles and glances let me see,
That make the miser's treasure poor,
How blithely wad I bide the stoure,
A weary slave frae sun to sun,
Could I the rich reward secure -
The lovely Mary Morison.

Yestreen, when to the trembling string
The dance gaed thro, the lighted ha',
To thee my fancy took its wing,
I sat, but neither heard nor saw:
Tho' this was fair, and that was braw,
And yon the toast of a' the town,
I sigh'd and said amang them a' -
'Ye are na Mary Morison!'

O Mary canst thou wreck his peace
Wha for thy sake wad gladly die?
Or canst thou break that heart of his
Whase only faut is loving thee?
If love for love thou wilt na gie,
At least be pity to me shown:
A thought ungentle canna be
The thought o' Mary Morison. jundic jostle ~es sheep bum buzz

Meaning of unusual words:
bide the stoure=bear the struggle
yestreen=last night
gaed=went
braw=fine
yon=the other
faut=fault
gie=give
canna=cannot

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