Annotation:Of all the airts

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OF ALL THE AIRTS (THE WIN' CAN BLAW). See "Miss Admiral Gordon’s Reel." Scottish, Air (4/4 time) or Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song is Robert Burns' adaptation of William Marshall's strathspey "Miss Admiral Gordon's Strathspey/Reel." It was written by the poet while he was at Ellisland awaiting the arrival of his bride-to-be, Jean Armour, from Mauchline in Ayrshire, where he first met her.

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

O a' the airts the wind can blaw,
I dearly lo'e the west,
For there the bonnie lassie lives,
The lass that I lo'e best.
Tho' wild woods grow an' rivers row,
Wi' mony a hill between,
Baith day and nicht, my fancy's flicht,
Is ever wi' my Jean.

The melody has been used for other songs, including a Canadian folksong, "The Scarborough Settlers' Lament" and a Scottish song "The Scottish Settlers' Lament" (see Stan Rogers' album "For the Family" and the Tannahill Weavers' album "Land of Light,", respectively.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p 124. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 63, p. 87. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883;

Recorded sources:

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