Johnie Blunt
written in 1792
Johnie Blunt - context Summary
Composed in Burns's Final Year
Robert Burns's "Johnie Blunt," written in 1792, is a short comic ballad rooted in Scottish rural speech and folklore. It recounts a domestic scene: a quarrel over who will bar the door during a storm that escalates when three hungry travelers arrive. The poem uses dialect and a simple narrative voice to stage social embarrassment and household dispute, mixing humour with local colour. Its composition in the year of Burns's death and focus on village life reflect his late-career interest in preserving popular ballad forms and rural customs.
Read Complete AnalysesThere liv'd a man in yonder glen, And John Blunt was his name, O; He maks gude maut, and he brews gude ale, And he bears a wondrous fame, O. The wind blew in the hallan ae night, Fu' snell out o'er the moor, O; 'Rise up, rise up, auld Luckie,' he says, 'Rise up and bar the door, O.' They made a paction tween them twa, They made it firm and sure, O, Whae'er sud speak the foremost word, Should rise and bar the door, O. Three travellers that had tint their gate, As thro' the hills they foor, O, They airted by the line o' light Fu' straight to Johnie Blunt's door, O. They haurl'd auld Luckie out o' her bed, And laid her on the floor, O; But never a word auld Luckie wad say, For barrin o' the door, O. Ye've eaten my bread, ye hae druken my ale, 'And ye'll mak my auld wife a whore, O' Aha Johnie Blunt!ye hae spoke the first word, Get up and bar the door, O.
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