The Banks o' Doon

[nigelgatherer]

The Banks o' Doon



This was Burns's first version of the famous song. Both versions are supposedly based on a real incident, where a beautiful woman (Miss Kennedy of Dalgarrock) fell pregnant to her lover, McDouall of Logan (Wigtownshire). Unmarried and abandoned by her lover, she died of a broken heart.

The second version of the song was adapted to a new tune written by a Mr Miller of Edinburgh, and while the latter song is known throughout the world, the former has, in my opinion, a lot going for it. The tune given above is Kath'rine Ogie, an older Scottish song.

Here is a downloadable PDF sheet.