Annotation:Of all the airts
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OF ALL THE AIRTS (THE WIN' CAN BLAW). See "Miss Admiral Gordon's Strathspey." 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." 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.
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: