The scenes where wretched Fancy roves,
Pursuing past unhappy loves!
Farewel, my Friends! farewel, my Foes!
My love with these, my peace with those!
These bursting tears my heart declare -
Farewel, the bony banks of Aire!
Le Fin. -
A Song.- Tune, Invercald's reel - a strathspey.
Chorus -
Tibby, I hae seen the day
Ye wad na been sae shy;
For lake o' gear ye lightly me,
But fien a hair care I.
1
Yestreen I met you on the moor,
Ye spakna but gaed by like stoure,
Ye lightly me because I'm poor,
But fien a hair care I.
Tibby, I hae & c.
2
When coman hame on Sunday last,
Upon the road as I came past,
Ye sneer'd an' gae your head a cast,
But trouth I car'd na by.
Tibby, I hae &c.
3.
I doubt na lass but ye may think,
Because ye hae the name o' clink,
That ye can please me at a wink,
Whene'er ye like to try.
Tibby, I hae &c.
Pursuing past unhappy loves!
Farewel, my Friends! farewel, my Foes!
My love with these, my peace with those!
These bursting tears my heart declare -
Farewel, the bony banks of Aire!
Le Fin. -
A Song.- Tune, Invercald's reel - a strathspey.
Chorus -
Tibby, I hae seen the day
Ye wad na been sae shy;
For lake o' gear ye lightly me,
But fien a hair care I.
1
Yestreen I met you on the moor,
Ye spakna but gaed by like stoure,
Ye lightly me because I'm poor,
But fien a hair care I.
Tibby, I hae & c.
2
When coman hame on Sunday last,
Upon the road as I came past,
Ye sneer'd an' gae your head a cast,
But trouth I car'd na by.
Tibby, I hae &c.
3.
I doubt na lass but ye may think,
Because ye hae the name o' clink,
That ye can please me at a wink,
Whene'er ye like to try.
Tibby, I hae &c.
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/124
- Alt. number
- 3.6288
- Date
- 1788
- On display
- Yes
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/124
- Alt. number
- 3.6288
- Date
- 1788
- On display
- Yes
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
Description
Tibby I hae seen the day.
R.B.'s notes at the end: "This song betrays itself to be a boyish essay, as it is very incorrect. 'Twas composed some time before I began to write MAN". 8 four-line verses and chorus.
Burns composed this song at the age of eighteen. The song is sung to the tune, Invercauld's Reel. "Tibby" is Isabella Steven of Littlehill farm near Lochlie where Burns' father farmed from 1777.
The main theme of this song concerns Tibby's preference for prosperous suitors. Burns says that "because I'm poor", Tibby is disregarding him as shown in the two lines "Yestreen I met you on the moor, Ye spak na, but gaed by like stoure!". Tibby cares not for the Poet because she "snufft an gae your head a cast -" and that since she has money (she came into a legacy of £75) she "can please me at a wink."
It has been suggested that "one night Robert Burns called at her home and the door was answered by a member of the household who said that Tibbie was entertaining another gentleman", hence the circumstances for the composition.
The main theme of this song concerns Tibby's preference for prosperous suitors. Burns says that "because I'm poor", Tibby is disregarding him as shown in the two lines "Yestreen I met you on the moor, Ye spak na, but gaed by like stoure!". Tibby cares not for the Poet because she "snufft an gae your head a cast -" and that since she has money (she came into a legacy of £75) she "can please me at a wink."
It has been suggested that "one night Robert Burns called at her home and the door was answered by a member of the household who said that Tibbie was entertaining another gentleman", hence the circumstances for the composition.
Archive information
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Robert Burns, collection of poems and songs
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- Tibby I hae seen the day
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