As I Cam Down by Yon Castle Wa'
written in 1792
As I Cam Down by Yon Castle Wa' - context Summary
Written in 1792
Dated 1792, Robert Burns’s "As I cam down by yon castle wa'" sits within his practice of collecting and shaping Scots folk-song. Written in Scots dialect, it reads as a short, comic dialogue that stages a courtship between an admiring man and a proud woman, using everyday speech and social wit. As a late-18th-century songlike piece, it illustrates Burns’s interest in preserving vernacular voices and rural manners rather than aiming at formal epic or lyric grandeur. It belongs to his broader effort to adapt and publish popular Scottish material.
Read Complete AnalysesAs I cam down by yon castle wa', And in by yon garden green, O there I spied a bony bony lass, But the flower-borders were us between. A bony bony lassie she was, As ever mine eyes did see: O five hundred pounds would I give, For to have such a pretty bride as thee. To have such a pretty bride as me, Young man ye are sairly mista'en; Tho' ye were king o' fair Scotland, I wad disdain to be you queen. Talk not so very high, bony lass, O talk not so very, very high: The man at the fair that wad sell, He maun learn at the man that wad buy. I trust to climb a far higher tree, And herry a far richer nest: Tak this advice o' me, bony lass, Humility wad set thee best.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.