Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes (2nd Version)
written in 1794
Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes (2nd Version) - meaning Summary
Love Amid Scottish Landscape
This short pastoral love song pairs affectionate devotion with vivid Scottish landscape. The speaker calls the ewes to the hills and invites his beloved to walk by the Clouden, where moonlight, hazel copses and the mavis’s evening song create a secure, enchanted setting. He promises protection against harm and supernatural fear, frames the beloved as beloved by Love and Heaven, and confesses that she has stolen his heart. The poem’s plain, musical diction and rural imagery make longing and tenderness feel immediate and rooted in place.
Read Complete AnalysesCa'the yowes to the knowes, Ca' them where the heather grows, Ca' them where the burnie rowes, My bonie Dearie. Hark the mavis' e'ening sang, Sounding Clouden's woods amang; Then a-faulding let us gang, My bonie Dearie. We'll gae down by Clouden side, Thro' the hazels, spreading wide, O'er the waves that sweetly glide, To the moon sae clearly. Yonder Clouden's silent towers, Where, at moonshine's midnight hours, O'er the dewy-bending flowers, Fairies dance sae cheery. Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear, Thou'rt to Love and Heav'n sae dear, Nocht of ill may come thee near; My bonie Dearie. Fair and lovely as thou art, Thou hast stown my very heart; I can die - but canna part, My bonie Dearie. Ca'the yowes to the knowes, Ca' them where the heather grows, Ca' them where the burnie rowes, My bonie Dearie.
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