Chorus
An O, for ane & twenty. Tam!
An hey, sweet ane & twenty, Tam!
I'll learn my kin a rattlin sang,
An I saw ane & twenty, Tam -
1
They snool me sair, & hand me down,
And gar me look like bluntie, Tam;
But three short years will soon wheel roun',
And then comes ane & twenty; Tam. -
An O, & c.
2.
A gleib o'lan, a claut o' gear,
Was left me by my Auntie, Tam;
At kith or kin I need na spier,
An I saw ane & twenty, Tam. -
An O, & c.
3.
They'll hae me wed a wealthy coof,
Tho' I mysel hae plenty, Tam;
But hearst thou, laddie, there's my loof,
I'm thine at ane & twenty, Tam!
An O, & c.
An O, for ane & twenty. Tam!
An hey, sweet ane & twenty, Tam!
I'll learn my kin a rattlin sang,
An I saw ane & twenty, Tam -
1
They snool me sair, & hand me down,
And gar me look like bluntie, Tam;
But three short years will soon wheel roun',
And then comes ane & twenty; Tam. -
An O, & c.
2.
A gleib o'lan, a claut o' gear,
Was left me by my Auntie, Tam;
At kith or kin I need na spier,
An I saw ane & twenty, Tam. -
An O, & c.
3.
They'll hae me wed a wealthy coof,
Tho' I mysel hae plenty, Tam;
But hearst thou, laddie, there's my loof,
I'm thine at ane & twenty, Tam!
An O, & c.
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/121
- Alt. number
- 3.6285
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/121
- Alt. number
- 3.6285
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
Description
O, for ane and twenty Tam. Begins: "An O, for one and twenty Tam". 3 four-line verses and a chorus.
Burns first included this song in the Scots Musical Museum in 1792. Writing to George Thomson two years later, Burns says, 'The set...in the Museum, does not please me; but if you will get any of our ancienter Scots Fiddlers to play you, in Strathspey time, "The Moudiewort," (that is the name of the air) I think it will delight you.' Apparently it did not, as Thomson did not use the tune in his publication of the song in the A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice.
Moudiewort, Burns favoured musical choice, was an old Jacobite tune composed on the death of William of Orange, who died after falling from his horse after it had stumbled over a mole‑hill.
Archive information
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Robert Burns, collection of poems and songs
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- O, for ane and twenty Tam
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