My Lady's Gown There's Gairs Upon't
written in 1787
My Lady's Gown There's Gairs Upon't - meaning Summary
Attraction Beyond Social Rank
This poem contrasts an elegant noblewoman with a modest rural girl, showing the speaker’s lord preferring simple, genuine charm over wealth and status. Set in the countryside—hunting grounds, moor and cottage—the poem celebrates natural beauty, youthful affection, and authentic connection. Burns emphasizes that manner, warmth, and effortless grace outweigh ornate dress and inherited rank. The recurring refrain underscores how social appearance fails to determine true attraction, aligning with Burns’s frequent interest in rural life and the worth of everyday people.
Read Complete AnalysesMy Lady's gown there's gairs upon't, And gowden flowers sae rare upon't; But Jenny's jimps and jirkinet My Lord thinks meikle mair upon't. My Lord a hunting he is gane, But hounds or hawks wi' him are nane; By Colin's cottage lies his game, If Colin's Jenny be at hame. My Lady's white, my Lady's red And kith and kin o' Cassillis' blude, But her tenpund lands o' tocher gude Were a' the charms his Lordship lo'ed. Out o'er yon moor, out o'er yon moss, Whare gor-cocks thro' the heather pass, There wons auld Colin's bonie lass, A lily in a wilderness. Sae sweetly move her genty limbs, Like music-notes o' Lovers hymns; The diamond-dew in her een sae blue Where laughing love sae wanton swims. My Lady's dink, my Lady's drest, The flower and fancy o' the west; But the Lassie that a man loes best, O that's the Lass to mak him blest. My Lady's gown there's gairs upon't, And gowden flowers sae rare upon't; But Jenny's jimps and jirkinet My Lord thinks meikle mair upon't.
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