"Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad" is the title and refrain of a poem and song by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, first written in 1787, and then expanded in 1793.

Development

The

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

called "Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad" was composed around the middle of the

eighteenth century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...

by John Bruce, a famous fiddler of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

. John O'Keeffe added it to his

pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, o ...

opera ''

The Poor Soldier ''The Poor Soldier'' is a 1783 British pasticcio opera with music by William Shield and a text by John O'Keeffe. It was a comedy set around Irish soldiers returning home after fighting in the British army in the American War of Independence, wh ...

'' (1783) for the song "Since love is the plan, I'll love if I can".

wrote two sets of words to the tune, using the existing title as the first line for both versions. The first was written for

James Johnson James Johnson may refer to: Artists, actors, authors, and musicians *James Austin Johnson (born 1989), American comedian & actor, ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member *James B. Johnson (born 1944), author of science nonfiction novels *James P. John ...

's ''

Scots Musical Museum The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish folk songs and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected ...

'' (volume 2, 1788), and consists of only two verses. The second version was written for George Thomson's '' A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice'' (1793), and consists of a chorus and three verses.

Text

First version (1787)

O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad, O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad, Tho' father and mither and a' should gae mad, O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad. Come down the back stairs when you come to court me, Come down the back stairs when you come to court me, Come down the back stairs, and let nae body see, And come as ye were na coming to me.

Second version (1793)

O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad; O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad; Tho' father, and mother, and a' should gae mad, O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad. But warily tent, when you come to court me, And come na unless the back-yett be a-jee; Syne up the back-stile, and let nae body see, And come as ye were na comin' to me, And come as ye were na comin' to me. O, whistle, etc. At kirk or at market, whene'er ye meet me, Gang by me as though that ye cared na a flie; But steal me a blink o' your bonnie black e'e, Yet look as ye were na lookin' at me, Yet look as ye were na lookin' at me. O, whistle, etc. Aye vow and protest that ye care na for me, And whyles ye may lichtly my beauty a wee; But court na anither, though jokin' ye be, For fear that she wyle your fancy frae me, For fear that she wyle your fancy frae me. O, whistle, etc.

In popular culture

In 1904 it was used as the title of 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' in the book ''

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). Some later editions under this title contain both the original collection and its su ...

'' by

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

in which a man digs up a bronze whistle in a possible Templar

preceptory A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

References

External links

Text of the poem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad Poetry by Robert Burns Scottish poetry Songs with lyrics by Robert Burns