013 Ay Waukin, O
Tune: Ay Waukin, O
Chorus
Ay waukin, O,
Waukin still and weary:
Sleep I can get nane
For thinking on my dearie.
1．
Simmer's a pleasant time:
Flowers of every colour,
The water rins owre the heugh,
And I long for my true lover.
2．
When I sleep I dream,
When I wauk I'm eerie,
Sleep I can get nane
For thinking on my dearie.
3．
Lanely night comes on,
A' the lave are sleepin,
I think on my bonie lad,
And I bleer my een wi' greetin.
Notes
Title Ay Waukin, O: Always Awake, Oh
This poem, first printed on 2nd February, 1790, is deceptively simple, but is quite moving in expressing the love-laden girl's torment at missing the young lad she loved. It is adapted from an original song.
Chorus
Line 3 nane: none
Line 4 dearie: lovely and dear person, now sometimes called “baby”
Stanza 1
Line 3 rins owre the heugh: runs over the cliff
Stanza 2
Line 2 wauk: wake; eerie: restless
Stanza 3
Line 1 Lanely: lonely
Line 2 A' the lave: All the rest / remainder; sleepin: sleeping
Line 4 bleer my een wi' greetin: blur my eyes with weeping