Comin’ thro’ the craigs o’ Kyle,
Amang the bonnie bloomin’ heather,
There I met a bonnie lassie,
Keepin’ a’ her ewes thegither.

Chorus:
O’er the muir amang the heather,
O’er the muir amang the heater;
There I met a bonnie lassie,
Keepin’ a’ her ewes thegither.

Says I, “My dear, where is thy hame?
In muir or dale, pray tell me whither?”
She says. “I tent the fleecy flocks
That feed amang the bloomin’ heather.”

She charmed my heart, and aye sin’ syne
I canna think o’ ony ither;
By sea and sky, she shall be mine!
The bonnie lass amang the heather.

Footnote: This song was transcribed by Robert Burns from the singing of the author herself, Jean Glover, and sent to Johnson’s Museum. Jean Glover was born at Kilmarnock in 1758 of humble parents and like her lass in the song was apparently a bonnie quean. She was a fine singer with a love of theatre and spent her days roving with a company of strolling players.