Famous Frae Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Frae poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous frae poems. These examples illustrate what a famous frae poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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The Gowk

by William Soutar
Half doun the hill, whaur fa's the linn
Far frae the flaught o' fowk, 
I saw upon a lanely whin 
A lanely singin' gowk: 
Cuckoo, cuckoo; 
And at my back 
The howie hill stüde up and spak: 
Cuckoo, cuckoo. 

There was nae soun':  the loupin' linn
Was frostit in its fa': 
Nae bird was on the lanely whin 
Sae white wi’...Read more of this...

The Whistle Of Sandy McGraw

by Robert William Service
 You may talk o' your lutes and your dulcimers fine,
 Your harps and your tabors and cymbals and a',
But here in the trenches jist gie me for mine
 The wee penny whistle o' Sandy McGraw.
Oh, it's: "Sandy, ma lad, will you lilt us a tune?"
 And Sandy is willin' and trillin' like mad;
Sae silvery sweet that we a' throng...Read more of this...

238. Song—Auld Lang Syne

by Robert Burns
 SHOULD auld acquaintance be forgot,
 And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
 And auld lang syne!


Chorus.—For auld lang syne, my dear,
 For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
 For auld lang syne.


And surely ye’ll be your pint stowp!
 And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’kindness yet,
 For auld lang syne.
 For...Read more of this...

345. Song—Frae the friends and land I love

by Robert Burns
 FRAE the friends and land I love,
 Driv’n by Fortune’s felly spite;
Frae my best belov’d I rove,
 Never mair to taste delight:
Never mair maun hope to find
 Ease frae toil, relief frae care;
When Remembrance wracks the mind,
 Pleasures but unveil despair.


Brightest climes shall mirk appear,
 Desert ilka blooming shore,
Till the Fates, nae mair severe,
 Friendship, love, and peace restore,
Till...Read more of this...

14. Song—Mary Morison

by Robert Burns
 O MARY, at thy window be,
 It is the wish’d, the trysted hour!
Those smiles and glances let me see,
 That make the miser’s treasure poor:
How blythely was I bide the stour,
 A weary slave frae sun to sun,
Could I the rich reward secure,
 The lovely Mary Morison.


Yestreen, when to the trembling string
 The dance gaed thro’ the lighted ha’,
To...Read more of this...

239. Song—My Bonie Mary

by Robert Burns
 GO, fetch to me a pint o’ wine,
 And fill it in a silver tassie;
That I may drink before I go,
 A service to my bonie lassie.
The boat rocks at the pier o’ Leith;
 Fu’ loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry;
The ship rides by the Berwick-law,
 And I maun leave my bonie Mary.


The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
...Read more of this...

27. The Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie

by Robert Burns
 AS Mailie, an’ her lambs thegither,
Was ae day nibbling on the tether,
Upon her cloot she coost a hitch,
An’ owre she warsl’d in the ditch:
There, groaning, dying, she did lie,
When Hughoc he cam doytin by.


 Wi’ glowrin een, and lifted han’s
Poor Hughoc like a statue stan’s;
He saw her days were near-hand ended,
But, wae’s my heart! he could na mend it!
He...Read more of this...

496. Song—My Nanie's awa

by Robert Burns
 NOW in her green mantle blythe Nature arrays,
And listens the lambkins that bleat o’er her braes;
While birds warble welcomes in ilka green shaw,
But to me it’s delightless—my Nanie’s awa.


The snawdrap and primrose our woodlands adorn,
And violetes bathe in the weet o’ the morn;
They pain my sad bosom, sae sweetly they blaw,
They mind me o’ Nanie—and Nanie’s awa.


Thou lav’rock that...Read more of this...

445. The Minstel at Lincluden

by Robert Burns
 AS I stood by yon roofless tower,
 Where the wa’flow’r scents the dery air,
Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower,
 And tells the midnight moon her care.


Chorus.—A lassie all alone, was making her moan,
 Lamenting our lads beyond the sea:
In the bluidy wars they fa’, and our honour’s gane an’ a’,
 And broken-hearted we maun die.


The winds were...Read more of this...

219. Song—To Daunton Me

by Robert Burns
 THE BLUDE-RED rose at Yule may blaw,
The simmer lilies bloom in snaw,
The frost may freeze the deepest sea;
But an auld man shall never daunton me.
Refrain.—To daunton me, to daunton me,
 And auld man shall never daunton me.


To daunton me, and me sae young,
Wi’ his fause heart and flatt’ring tongue,
That is the thing you shall never see,
For an auld man...Read more of this...

519. Ballad on Mr. Heron's Election—No. 2

by Robert Burns
 FY, let us a’ to Kirkcudbright,
 For there will be bickerin’ there;
For Murray’s light horse are to muster,
 And O how the heroes will swear!
And there will be Murray, Commander,
 And Gordon, the battle to win;
Like brothers they’ll stand by each other,
 Sae knit in alliance and kin.


And there will be black-nebbit Johnie,
 The tongue o’ the trump to...Read more of this...

520. Ballad on Mr. Heron's Election—No. 3

by Robert Burns
 ’TWAS in the seventeen hunder year
 O’ grace, and ninety-five,
That year I was the wae’est man
 Of ony man alive.


In March the three-an’-twentieth morn,
 The sun raise clear an’ bright;
But oh! I was a waefu’ man,
 Ere to-fa’ o’ the night.


Yerl Galloway lang did rule this land,
 Wi’ equal right and fame,
And thereto was his kinsmen join’d,
 The Murray’s...Read more of this...

493. Song—Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair

by Robert Burns
 CONTENTED wi’ little, and cantie wi’ mair,
Whene’er I forgather wi’ Sorrow and Care,
I gie them a skelp as they’re creeping alang,
Wi’ a cog o’ gude swats and an auld Scottish sang.
 Chorus.—Contented wi’ little, &c.


I whiles claw the elbow o’ troublesome thought;
But Man is a soger, and Life is a faught;
My mirth and gude humour are coin in my...Read more of this...

377. Song—The Country Lass

by Robert Burns
 IN simmer, when the hay was mawn,
 And corn wav’d green in ilka field,
While claver blooms white o’er the lea
 And roses blaw in ilka beild!
Blythe Bessie in the milking shiel,
 Says—“I’ll be wed, come o’t what will”:
Out spake a dame in wrinkled eild;
 “O’ gude advisement comes nae ill.


“It’s ye hae wooers mony ane,
 And lassie, ye’re but...Read more of this...

Ye Banks And Braes OBonnie Doon

by Robert Burns
 Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fair!
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu' o' care!

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o' the happy days
When my fause Luve was true.

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae...Read more of this...

60. Epistle on J. Lapraik

by Robert Burns
 WHILE briers an’ woodbines budding green,
An’ paitricks scraichin loud at e’en,
An’ morning poussie whiddin seen,
 Inspire my muse,
This freedom, in an unknown frien’,
 I pray excuse.


On Fasten-e’en we had a rockin,
To ca’ the crack and weave our stockin;
And there was muckle fun and jokin,
 Ye need na doubt;
At length we had a hearty yokin
 At sang about.


There was ae...Read more of this...

361. Song—Behold the Hour the Boat arrive

by Robert Burns
 BEHOLD the hour, the boat, arrive!
 My dearest Nancy, O fareweel!
Severed frae thee, can I survive,
 Frae thee whom I hae lov’d sae weel?


Endless and deep shall be my grief;
 Nae ray of comfort shall I see,
But this most precious, dear belief,
 That thou wilt still remember me!


Alang the solitary shore
 Where flitting sea-fowl round me cry,
Across the rolling,...Read more of this...

Auld Lang Syne

by Robert Burns
 Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang...Read more of this...

41. Epistle to John Rankine

by Robert Burns
 O ROUGH, rude, ready-witted Rankine,
The wale o’ cocks for fun an’ drinkin!
There’s mony godly folks are thinkin,
 Your dreams and tricks
Will send you, Korah-like, a-sinkin
 Straught to auld Nick’s.


Ye hae saw mony cracks an’ cants,
And in your wicked, drucken rants,
Ye mak a devil o’ the saunts,
 An’ fill them fou;
And then their failings, flaws, an’ wants,
 Are a’ seen...Read more of this...

184. Song—The Birks of Aberfeldy

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—Bonie lassie, will ye go,
Will ye go, will ye go,
Bonie lassie, will ye go
To the birks of Aberfeldy!


NOW Simmer blinks on flowery braes,
And o’er the crystal streamlets plays;
Come let us spend the lightsome days,
 In the birks of Aberfeldy.
 Bonie lassie, &c.


While o’er their heads the hazels hing,
The little birdies blythely sing,
Or lightly flit on wanton wing,
 In the...Read more of this...

427. Song—Whistle and I'll come to you

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—O WHISTLE, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,
Tho’ father an’ mother an’ a’ should gae mad,
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad.


But warily tent when ye come to court me,
And come nae unless the back-yett be a-jee;
Syne up the back-stile, and let naebody see,
And come as ye were...Read more of this...

Camerons Heart

by Henry Lawson
 The diggings were just in their glory when Alister Cameron came, 
With recommendations, he told me, from friends and a parson `at hame'; 
He read me his recommendations -- he called them a part of his plant -- 
The first one was signed by an Elder, the other by Cameron's aunt. 
The meenister called him `ungodly -- a stray...Read more of this...

500. Song—Craigieburn Wood (Second Version)

by Robert Burns
 SWEET fa’s the eve on Craigieburn,
 And blythe awakes the morrow;
But a’ the pride o’ Spring’s return
 Can yield me nocht but sorrow.


I see the flowers and spreading trees,
 I hear the wild birds singing;
But what a weary wight can please,
 And Care his bosom wringing!


Fain, fain would I my griefs impart,
 Yet dare na for your anger;
But secret...Read more of this...

297. Election Ballad for Westerha'

by Robert Burns
 THE LADDIES by the banks o’ Nith
 Wad trust his Grace 1 wi a’, Jamie;
But he’ll sair them, as he sair’d the King—
 Turn tail and rin awa’, Jamie.


Chorus.—Up and waur them a’, Jamie,
 Up and waur them a’;
The Johnstones hae the guidin o’t,
 Ye turncoat Whigs, awa’!


The day he stude his country’s friend,
 Or gied her faes a...Read more of this...

15. Winter: A Dirge

by Robert Burns
 THE WINTRY west extends his blast,
 And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
 The blinding sleet and snaw:
While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
 And roars frae bank to brae;
And bird and beast in covert rest,
 And pass the heartless day.


“The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast,”
 The joyless winter day
Let others fear, to me...Read more of this...

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