I have not heard this in over 40 years. I went to a girls school called Braeside and we used to sing it there. Beautifully sung. Thank you. It was like visiting my 13 year old self.
Ye banks and braes o' bonnie doon How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant ye little birds And i sae weary full o' care? Ye'll break my heart ye warbling birds That wanton through the flowery thorn Ye 'mind me o' departed joys Departed never to return Oft hae i roved by bonnie doon To see the rose and woodbine twine And ilka bird sang o' its love And fondly sae did i o' mine Wi' lightsome heart i pulled a rose Full sweet upon its thorny tree And my false lover stole my rose But ah she left the thorn wi' me
I sang this song at a Burns Night last year.The party was in Charlotte North Carolina and the guest were all British.The last time I sang this in public was 1959, I won a school competition in the open solo category.
Sallie: Robert Burns' words were true in the 1700s. in 1959, in 2018 and God Willing for a long, long time, for Scotland and its people have a beauty that is more than skin deep. May that beauty last for ever and ever. Amen / Ameen. A Pakistani, an ex-Glaswegian, now in Virginia and worked for a while in Greensboro, NC, not far from Charlotte.
Thank you ever so much for this most delightful and precious upload in the beautiful Scots language, singing one of the many poetic pearls of the great Robert Burns with such a melodious voice. For those who don't know, Scots is a legitimate daughter of Old Northumbrian, the Angles' tongue and Cumbrian, Modern Northumbrian and Geordie are its sisters. Long live Alba😇😇😘🙏
Respect from your Celtic cousins from Eire. Respect to Alba. We are all wan clan, of poets, musicians and old believers of respect for our land. We all know of Oliver the eeejit Cromwell. But we outlasted all injustice. We are peace with our lands. Slainte agus Saor
One of our Bengali songs composed by our Great Philosopher Poet, Rabindra nath Tagore, is in tune with this song, which is also immortal, the Scottish song is suffused with joys eternal adorned with trance of melancholy that only to be felt and realised, very heart touching, inscrutable, bringing joys absolute, rendition performed is ever superb, per excellence.
Your voice reminds me of my mother singing in the house in Broughty Ferry. I am 64 years young and your voice took me right back to happy days in the 1950's. Thank you.
Love it with tears streaming down my face, don't care about the whistler. The singing and the scenery are captivating. There was still so much natural beauty in Burns' time; will any of it be left by the next century?
Methinks that there shall be. Much damage was done after the clearances when sheep were turned out to do what sheep do. Experiments are being done now in the highlands to fence out the sheep and the deer and let the land go back to nature. Progress has been very good. Generally speaking, people are more and more fed up with greed, cruelty, deception, and disrespect for God and His world. I expect the next century to be much better than any we have an historical memory of.
I actually found this song while reading about his life in St. Helena. He also liked that the song is not of English origin since he believed English cannot make good songs xD
I first heard the song when I was about eleven, maybe twelve years old. To this day it is one of my favorite songs to sing out of the blue. I had no clue what it meant the first time I heard it. But it made me cry, somehow I could tell despite how soft and sweet it sounded. It was deeper then that. Older now, I understand it. But it is curious whether my child-like perception was spot on, or I had a lucky day. Either way, this is beautiful. Just reminded me of my old voice coach. And makes me want to replay it a few times to refresh my pronunciations here and there. >.
The first Burns Supper in Russia was held in Moscow 1974 and not broadcast in the west for the obvious political climate. I shall never forget the wonderful people and the total experience. The women loved me twirling with my kilt. Stayed in the largest hotel in the world at that time.
Dear Ms.Madelaine . My name is Shamsher, I'm a young Pakistani student of beauty and everything pretty. Some would say I have no business here listening to a voice with such foreign roots to my own. Though I wholeheartedly disagree. i must thank you, for anything that reduces me to tears is something I hold dear.
Dear Sham / Dear Madelaine: I am of Pakistani extraction, very early childhood in Pakistan, childhood and growing years in Glasgow, adulthood in US. We all live on a tiny, tiny speck of dust called the Earth. It is all of ours business to enjoy all that is on this speck and furthermore help make this speck a jewel among all of God's / Allah's creations; Scotland belongs to us all, like Pakistan belongs to us all. Be good to your mother and to your motherland, the Earth that gave you and me Life.
Enjoyed your comment Shamsher. I was born in Sialkot, Pakistan, but grew up mostly in Glasgow, Scotland. I hope you get a chance to visit Scotland, a land and its people that are among the best of God's / Allah's creation.
Thank you so much. I think Robert Burns is the greatest Scotsman that ever lived. He was such a talented man. This words make me cry because I was brought up in Ayrshire and long to go back there to live. Such fond memories.
My friend told me about this song because she wanted something special for a character we're working on. Now I find myself listening to it constantly. I love this song and I see why my friend does too. Thank you for uploading it.
Thank you so much Janis! I have wonderful memories of recording this in Colorado with the very talented musician Mark Geisler, who played all the instruments and did the arrangement.
So glad to stumble upon this song. Sung so well, and thank you for the pictures as well. I live in Bonny Doon, California. In my own state of mind tonight, I am glad to find peace in listening to you this (now) early morning. Thank you so much.
hi Madeleaine. sending you very best,,last night at my Robbie Burns party, during dinner.i played this song it just filled the room with your beautiful voice,,thank you!!@@madelainecave9521
What a beautiful rendition. I got this link from the FutureLearn Robert Burns course given by the University of Glasgow and now I've bookmarked it. Thank you for such a nostalgic and true performance.
SteveonLI i just posted my own version of this w keyboard. i love to play it; the structure of the melody is equisite and i assume it's a traditional song. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ the sentiments ("oh, how can these birds keep singing when i feel so bad?") remind me of the US country song "end of the world" by skeeter davis. i also have a version of that song posted on my yt too
I can't speak for Burns Frank, but the "bank" of a river is the steep slope right alongside it and braes are hillsides, not necessarily immediately adjacent to the river.
