The Scots

Scots language

Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

 song "Ae Fond Kiss, and Then We Sever", by Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

, is more commonly known as "Ae Fond Kiss". The song is Burns' most recorded song. The Ae is pronounced to rhyme with "hay".

Lyrics

Written in a letter to Agnes M'Lehose, or 'Clarinda', (also known as 'Nancy' to her friends) in December 1791, when she left Burns, and Scotland, to follow her husband to Jamaica to try to save her marriage.

As written in three verses of eight lines in Burns'
Original setting to the tune Rory Dalls' Port
Scots Musical Museum...

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;

Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!

Who shall say that Fortune grieves him

While the star of hope she leaves him?

Me, nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me,

Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy;

Naething could resist my Nancy;

But to see her was to love her,

Love but her, and love for ever.

Had we never loved sae kindly,

Had we never loved sae blindly,

Never met—or never parted,

We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest!

Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest!

Thine be ilka joy and treasure,

Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure!

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!

Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!

Recordings

• Andy M. Stewart
  Andy M. Stewart
  Andy M. Stewart is a Scottish singer and songwriter, formerly the frontman for Silly Wizard.Stewart toured with Silly Wizard until the band broke up in 1988. Since then, he has recorded four solo albums, as well as three with Manus Lunny...
  
   - Songs of Robert Burns
• Eddi Reader
  Eddi Reader
  Eddi Reader MBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards and has topped both the album and singles charts...
  
   - Sings the Songs of Robert Burns
• Karan Casey
  Karan Casey
  Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.-Early years:Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she...
  
   - Ships in the Forest
  Ships in the Forest
  Ships in the Forest is a studio album by Irish traditional singer Karan Casey, and the first to be released primarily on her own label. The album features much of Casey's live band, as well as her brother-in-law and husband, both members of the band Buille. The album features one song in Gaelic and...
  
  
• The Corries
  The Corries
  The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...
  
   - Scottish Love Songs
• Dougie MacLean
  Dougie MacLean
  Dougie MacLean OBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist.His career started with a traditional band, The Tannahill Weavers, in 1976. His solo career started in 1981 and since then he has recorded numerous albums...
  
   - Indigenous
• Kenneth McKellar (singer)
  Kenneth McKellar (singer)
  Kenneth McKellar was a Scottish tenor.-Career:McKellar studied forestry at the University of Aberdeen, after graduation working for the Scottish Forestry Commission. He later trained at the Royal College of Music as an opera singer...
  
   with Patricia Cahill 'The Great Duets' 1971
• John Gorka
  John Gorka
  John Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."-Biography:...
  
   - So Dark You See
• Colin Waterson
  Colin Waterson
  Waterson is a Scottish electronic musician.-Dance career:Waterson performed all over the world as a dancer, most famously as a member of Matthew Bourne's theatre company New Adventures, where he created roles in productions of Swan Lake as well Cinderella Waterson (born Colin Ross Waterson, 5...
  
   - Glasgow Boy
• Edith Wiens - Ae Fond Kiss: Ballads, Folksongs, Parlour Songs