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.
![](https://ciim-data.nts.org.uk/media/iiif/3/pf%2F2%2F1%2F40%2F506%2FNTSBRNp06668.ptif/full/!640,640/0/default.jpg)
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.
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