Killiecrankie
written in 1790
Killiecrankie - context Summary
Battle of Killiecrankie
Written in 1790, Burns’s "Killiecrankie" invokes the Jacobite Battle of Killiecrankie and the local memory of that violent encounter. The poem frames a speaker who has been at brutal fighting—land and sea, at home and on the braes—and who warns a cheerful companion that seeing what he has seen would strip away lightheartedness. Burns borrows martial names and Scottish place-figures to root the poem in historical conflict and oral tradition, turning remembrance of a specific clash into a compact, performed lament.
Read Complete AnalysesWhare hae ye been sae braw, lad! Whare hae ye been sae brankie O? Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad? Cam ye by Killiecrankie O? An ye had been whare I hae been, Ye wad na been sae cantie O; An ye had seen what I hae seen, I'th' braes o' Killiecrankie O. I faught at land, I faught at sea, At hame I faught my Auntie, O; But I met the Devil and Dundee On th' braes o' Killiecrankie, O. An ye had been whare I hae been, Ye wad na been sae cantie O; An ye had seen what I hae seen, I'th' braes o' Killiecrankie O. The bauld Pitcur fell in a furr, An' Clavers gat a clankie, O; Or I had fed an Athole Gled On th' braes o' Killiecrankie, O. An ye had been whare I hae been, Ye wad na been sae cantie O; An ye had seen what I hae seen, I'th' braes o' Killiecrankie O.
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