Banks of the Devon (The)

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BANKS OF THE DEVON. Scottish, Air (6/8 time). E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The tune was noted by Robert Burns near Inverness, Scotland, and appears in the Scots Musical Museum (1787, No. 157), although it was originally a Gaelic song called "Bhanarach dhonn a' chruidh" (The Brown Milkmaid), published in Patrick McDonald's 1784 collection. The river Devon flows south of the Ochil hills, and the nearby residence of Harviestoun was the abode of Charlotte Hamilton, the subject of his song (he also wrote his last song, "Fairest Maid on the Devon Banks" in honor of her). Burns' lyric begins:

How pleasant the banks of the clear winding Devon,
With green spreading bushes and flow'rs blooming fair!
But the boniest flow'r on the banks of the Devon
Was once a sweet bud on the braes of the Ayr.
Mild be the sun on this sweet blushing flower,
In the gay rosy morn, as it bathes in the dew;
And gentle the fall of the soft vernal shower,
That steals on the evening each leaf to renew!

See also the jig-time variant "Scarce o' Tatties."

Printed source: O'Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. IV), 1810; p. 109.

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