Poems
Ca’ the yowes to the knowes,Ca’ them where the heather grows,Ca’ them where the burnie rows,My bonnie dearie.
As I gaed down the water side,There I met my shepherd lad;He row’d me sweetly in his plaid,And he ca’d me his dearie.
‘Will ye gang down the water side,And see the waves sae sweetly glideBeneath the hazels spreading wide?The moon it shines fu’ clearly.’
‘I was bred up at nae sic school,My shepherd lad, to play the fool,And a’ the day to sit in dool,And naebody to see me.’
‘Ye sall get gowns and ribbons meet,Cauf-leather shoon upon your feet,And in my arms ye’se lie and sleep,And ye sall be my dearie.’
‘If ye’ll but stand to what ye’ve said,I’se gang wi’ you, my shepherd lad,And ye may row me in your plaid,And I sall be your dearie.’
‘While waters wimple to the sea,While day blinks in the lift sae hie,Till clay-cauld death sail blin’ my e’e,Ye aye sall be my dearie!’
Words in this poem
- burnie n.
- A small brook. Burns. [See 4th Burn.]
- sall n.
- An East Indian timber tree (Shorea robusta), much used for building purposes. It is of a light brown color, close-grained, and durable. [Hind. s\'bel, Skr. ç\'bela.]
- wimple n.
- A covering of silk, linen, or other material, for the neck and chin, formerly worn by women as an outdoor protection, and still retained in the dress of nuns. [OE. wimpel, AS. winpel; akin to D. & G. wimpel a pennant, streamer, OHG. wimpal a veil, Icel. vimpill, Dan. & Sw. vimpel a pennant, streamer; of uncertain origi]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Isobel Pagan, Poems, (1740–1821), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-isobel-pagan/ca-the-yowes-to-the-knowes.html, id L16166.
Form and metre
Ca’ the Yowes to the Knowes is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 6 lines end 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 AAA- knowesA · growsA · rowsA · dearie
- 2 -AA- side · ladA · plaidA · dearie
- 3 AAA- sideA · glideA · wideA · clearly
- 4 AAA- schoolA · foolA · doolA · me
- 5 AA-- meetA · feetA · sleep · dearie
- 6 -AA- said · ladA · plaidA · dearie
- 7 ABAB seaA · hieB · e'eA · dearieB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ca’ the yowes to the knowes, | 6 | ······ |
| Ca’ them where the heather grows, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Ca’ them where the burnie rows, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| My bonnie dearie. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| As I gaed down the water side, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There I met my shepherd lad; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He row’d me sweetly in his plaid, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And he ca’d me his dearie. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ‘Will ye gang down the water side, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And see the waves sae sweetly glide | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath the hazels spreading wide? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The moon it shines fu’ clearly.’ | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ‘I was bred up at nae sic school, | 8 | ········ |
| My shepherd lad, to play the fool, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And a’ the day to sit in dool, | 8 | ········ |
| And naebody to see me.’ | 7 | ······· |
| ‘Ye sall get gowns and ribbons meet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Cauf-leather shoon upon your feet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And in my arms ye’se lie and sleep, | 8 | ········ |
| And ye sall be my dearie.’ | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ‘If ye’ll but stand to what ye’ve said, | 8 | ········ |
| I’se gang wi’ you, my shepherd lad, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ye may row me in your plaid, | 8 | ········ |
| And I sall be your dearie.’ | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ‘While waters wimple to the sea, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| While day blinks in the lift sae hie, | 8 | ········ |
| Till clay-cauld death sail blin’ my e’e, | 8 | ········ |
| Ye aye sall be my dearie!’ | 7 | ·····/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
Quiller-Couch's glosses on the hard words, from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900, chosen and edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch (Oxford, 1900; Project Gutenberg #66619)
- Stanza 1 _473._ yowes] ewes. knowes] knolls, little hills. rows] rolls. row’d] rolled, wrapped. _473._ dool] dule, sorrow. lift] sky.
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.