Duncan Davison
There was a lass, they ca’d her Meg,And she held o’er the moors to spin;There was a lad that follow’d her,They ca’d him Duncan Davison.The moor was dreigh, and Meg was skeigh,Her favour Duncan could na win;For wi’ the rock she wad him knock,And aye she shook the temper-pin.
As o’er the moor they lightly foor,A burn was clear, a glen was green,Upon the banks they eas’d their shanks,And aye she set the wheel between:But Duncan swoor a haly aith,That Meg should be a bride the morn;Then Meg took up her spinning-graith,And flang them a’ out o’er the burn.
We will big a wee, wee house,And we will live like king and queen;Sae blythe and merry’s we will be,When ye set by the wheel at e’en.A man may drink, and no be drunk;A man may fight, and no be slain;A man may kiss a bonie lass,And aye be welcome back again!
Words in this poem
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- graith n.
- Furniture; apparatus or accouterments for work, traveling, war, etc. Jamieson.
- flang n.
- A miner's two-pointed pick.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Duncan Davison is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Burns, Duncan Davison, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/duncan-davison.html, id L03125.
Form and metre
Duncan Davison is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A-A-A meg · spinA · her · davisonA · skeigh · winA · knock · pinA
- 2 -A-AB-B- foor · greenA · shanks · betweenA · aithB · morn · graithB · burn
- 3 -A-A-B-B house · queenA · be · e'enA · drunk · slainB · lass · againB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There was a lass, they ca’d her Meg, | 8 | ········ |
| And she held o’er the moors to spin; | 8 | ········ |
| There was a lad that follow’d her, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They ca’d him Duncan Davison. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The moor was dreigh, and Meg was skeigh, | 8 | ········ |
| Her favour Duncan could na win; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For wi’ the rock she wad him knock, | 8 | ········ |
| And aye she shook the temper-pin. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As o’er the moor they lightly foor, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A burn was clear, a glen was green, | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the banks they eas’d their shanks, | 8 | ········ |
| And aye she set the wheel between: | 8 | ········ |
| But Duncan swoor a haly aith, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That Meg should be a bride the morn; | 8 | ········ |
| Then Meg took up her spinning-graith, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And flang them a’ out o’er the burn. | 8 | ········ |
| We will big a wee, wee house, | 7 | ······· |
| And we will live like king and queen; | 8 | ········ |
| Sae blythe and merry’s we will be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When ye set by the wheel at e’en. | 8 | ········ |
| A man may drink, and no be drunk; | 8 | ········ |
| A man may fight, and no be slain; | 8 | ········ |
| A man may kiss a bonie lass, | 8 | ········ |
| And aye be welcome back again! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
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