Green grow the rashes, O!

Simon recently did something I really really really need to do one of these years: he attended a Burns Supper, and he relates his experiences here and here. Burns Suppers are events that celebrate Scottish heritage and song, mainly through the verse of the Scottish National Poet, Robert Burns. Now, I have no Scottish blood in me whatsoever, but Burns's poetry and song are central to the larger world of Celtic music, and I love his work on that basis. High on my list of books to get is a collection of Burns's poems; he is represented in a number of anthologies I already own, but none are devoted just to him.

Here's my favorite of his verses, "Green Grow the Rashes", which has an equally beautiful tune. Dougie Maclean sings this wonderfully on his album Live from the Ends of the Earth.

Chorus:

Green grow the rashes, O;
Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
Are spent among the lasses, O.

There's nought but care on ev'ry han',
In every hour that passes, O:
What signifies the life o' man,
An' 'twere na for the lasses, O.

Chorus

The war'ly race may riches chase,
An' riches still may fly them, O;
An' tho' at last they catch them fast,
Their hearts can ne'er enjoy them, O.

Chorus

But gie me a cannie hour at e'en,
My arms about my dearie, O,
An' war'ly cares an' war'ly men
May a' gae tapsalteerie, O!

Chorus

For you sae douce, ye sneer at this;
Ye're nought but senseless asses, O;
The wisest man the warl' e'er saw,
He dearly lov'd the lasses, O.

Chorus

Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O:
Her prentice han' she try'd on man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.

Chorus

Bring on the haggis!