I Hae Been at Crookieden
I Hae been at Crookieden,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,Viewing Willie and his men,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.There our foes that burnt and slew,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,There, at last, they gat their due,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.
Satan sits in his black neuk,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,Breaking sticks to roast the Duke,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,The bloody monster gae a yell,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.And loud the laugh gied round a’ hellMy bonie laddie, Highland laddie.
Words in this poem
- laddie n.
- A lad; a male sweetheart.
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I Hae Been at Crookieden 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, I Hae Been at Crookieden, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/i-hae-been-at-crookieden.html, id L03254.
Form and metre
I Hae Been at Crookieden is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 98%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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-ABABA crookieden · laddieA · men · laddieA · slewB · laddieA · dueB · laddieA
- 2 -A-ABABA neuk · laddieA · duke · laddieA · yellB · laddieA · hellB · laddieA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I Hae been at Crookieden, | 7 | ······· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Viewing Willie and his men, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| There our foes that burnt and slew, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| There, at last, they gat their due, | 7 | ······· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Satan sits in his black neuk, | 7 | /˘····· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Breaking sticks to roast the Duke, | 7 | /˘····· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| The bloody monster gae a yell, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| And loud the laugh gied round a’ hell | 8 | ········ |
| My bonie laddie, Highland laddie. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.