The Birks O' Aberfeldy

I had never visited this well known beauty spot before, so, as it was virtually next door to my B&B, I went for a brisk walk round the gorge after breakfast. It had to be very brisk, as the rain turned to sleet, then to snow, back to sleet and back to rain. Despite the grim weather, it is a beautiful place, dominated by the crashing falls of the Moness Burn. In fact the gorge was known as the Moness Falls until Robert Burns went there in 1787 and wrote his famous song, usually sung to a tune called The Birks O' Abergeldie.

The spot where he allegedly sat on the rocks is marked by a plaque, and there is a very natural looking statue of him on a bench a little further on. Here are his words:

"Now simmer blinks on flow'ry braes,
And o'er the crystal streamlet plays,
Come, let us spend the lightsome days
In the birks of Aberfeldy

(chorus)
Bonnie lassie, will ye go,
will ye go, will ye go,
Bonnie lassie, will ye go
To the birks of Aberfeldy?

The little birdies blithely sing,
While o'er their heads the hazels hing;
Or lightly flit on wanton wing
In the birks of Aberfeldy!

The braes ascend like lofty wa's,
The foaming stream, deep-roaring, fa's,
O'er-hung wi'fragrant spreading shaws,
The birks of Aberfeldy.

The hoary cliffs are crown'd wi'flowers,
White o'er the linns the burnie pours,
And, rising, weets wi' misty showers
The birks of Aberfeldy.

Let fortune's gifts at random flee,
They ne'er shall draw a wish frae me,
Supremely blest wi' love and thee
In the Birks of Aberfeldy."

If Burns had experienced the same weather as I did, he might not have felt quite so inspired, or he might have chosen different words, possibly including: "drookit" and "eedjit".