The Lass o’ Ecclefechan
Gat ye me, O gat ye me,O gat ye me wi’ naething?Rock an reel, and spinning wheel,A mickle quarter basin:Bye attour my Gutcher hasA heich house and a laich ane,A’ forbye my bonie sel,The toss o’ Ecclefechan.
O haud your tongue now, Lucky Lang,O haud your tongue and jaunerI held the gate till you I met,Syne I began to wander:I tint my whistle and my sang,I tint my peace and pleasure;But your green graff, now Lucky Lang,Wad airt me to my treasure.
Words in this poem
- mickle a.
- Much; great. [Old Eng. & Scot.] [OE. mikel, muchel, mochel, mukel, AS. micel, mycel; akin to OS. mikil, OHG. mihil, mihhil, Icel. mikill, mykill, Goth. mikils, L. magnus, Gr. mahat. sq. root103]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- graff n.
- A steward; an overseer. [OE. grafe, greife, greive. Cf. Margrave.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lass o’ Ecclefechan 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, The Lass o’ Ecclefechan, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/the-lass-o-ecclefechan.html, id L03412.
Form and metre
The Lass o’ Ecclefechan is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-- me · naething · wheel · basinA · has · aneA · sel · ecclefechan
- 2 A---ABAB langA · jauner · met · wander · sangA · pleasureB · langA · treasureB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gat ye me, O gat ye me, | 7 | ······· |
| O gat ye me wi’ naething? | 7 | ······· |
| Rock an reel, and spinning wheel, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| A mickle quarter basin: | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Bye attour my Gutcher has | 7 | ······· |
| A heich house and a laich ane, | 7 | ······· |
| A’ forbye my bonie sel, | 7 | ······· |
| The toss o’ Ecclefechan. | 7 | ······· |
| O haud your tongue now, Lucky Lang, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O haud your tongue and jauner | 7 | ······· |
| I held the gate till you I met, | 8 | ········ |
| Syne I began to wander: | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| I tint my whistle and my sang, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I tint my peace and pleasure; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But your green graff, now Lucky Lang, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wad airt me to my treasure. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.